


Don't Be Afraid Of The Dark

by WandaRavenBlack



Series: Road to Crisis on Infinite Earths [7]
Category: Batman - All Media Types, DCU (Comics), Nightwing (Comics)
Genre: Abuse, Bonding, Humiliation, Kidnapping, Past Child Abuse, Starvation, Stockholm Syndrome, Training, Violence
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2019-10-21
Updated: 2020-11-02
Packaged: 2020-12-27 23:28:24
Rating: Not Rated
Warnings: Graphic Depictions Of Violence
Chapters: 15
Words: 25,799
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/21127019
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/WandaRavenBlack/pseuds/WandaRavenBlack
Summary: EARTH 47Deathstroke breaks into the Batcave and gives Dick and ultimatum. Either he comes with him, or Slade will take Damian. Not wanting his little brother to get hurt, Dick agrees.





	1. Pure Fear

Damian was sitting in the cave, sharpening his knives, when he heard the door open. Knowing that Batman and Red Robin were on patrol, and Alfred was upstairs sleeping, he frowned, but didn’t look up when he recognized the sound of the steps. Slow, light, almost soundless, steady. No hesitation. Grayson. It had to be. Batman walked more heavily, having to carry the weight of the suit. Tim couldn’t walk quietly, even if it would save his life. Alfred could be soundless, but he was never that steady in his steps. The old age was making him more and more tired. Jason, on the very rare occasions that he visited, was never trying to walk quietly. He liked to make his presence known, unless he wanted to sneak up on Grayson. Then he could be quieter than a shadow. However he did it. Damian hated to admit it, but he sometimes admired the Red Hood. Not that he would ever say it out loud. He looked at the blade of his knife and smiled when he saw how sharp it had gotten. But then he frowned. Why was it still so quiet? Usually, Grayson would have said something by now. It was his thing. Talking. He could talk through the most dangerous situations. Crack a joke at the most deadly opponents. He almost never shut up. And he absolutely never passed up on the opportunity to talk to Damian, even if all he got back were one worded responses. So why was it still so quiet? Sensing that something was terribly wrong, Damian looked up, and froze when he saw the person who had now stopped in the middle of the cave. The black and orange mask was tilted in almost curiosity. Quickly scanning the man, Damian noticed two swords, two guns and four knives. That he could see. He stood up slowly, not showing any emotion other than irritation. Quickly he did a headcount again. Batman and Red Robin were still out on patrol. Alfred was upstairs. Red Hood had been quiet for a few weeks, but this couldn’t be him. Jason was tall, but not this tall. And, he would never wear a suit like that. But where was Dick? Nightwing had been on patrol, but had checked in around five minutes ago that he was on his way back to the cave. Damian had came back twenty minutes prior to that and sent Alfred up to his room, taking over the central command place from him. 

“Well, well, well. So you’re the new Robin.” 

The man’s voice was slightly raspy and Damian quickly checked his entire brain to see if he had heard it before. But he hadn’t. He was going to say something, when the man shook his head. 

“Pathetic, really. You have nothing on the first one. The real Robin.” 

A few months ago, Damian would have snapped at that. He hated being compared to the other Robins. But things had changed. He had gotten used to Grayson and his constant talking. He still resented being compared to Todd or, heaven forbid, Drake. But being compared to Grayson had stopped bothering him that much. He had accepted that Dick was the original Robin. 

“What’s your name, boy?” 

Damian glared at the man. 

“Who the hell are you?” 

The man laughed, tilting his head again. 

“Second Robin’s temperament. Definitely. The old Bat has way too much sentiment. Always trying to make them like the first two. Like the original.” 

Damian pulled out his sword. He’d heard enough. With a powerful jump, he moved closer to the man and swung his sword. While he was still in the air, he noticed that the man didn’t move a muscle, until Damian was only about a meter away from him. Then, with one quick move, he grabbed Daman’s hand and flung the boy across the cave. Damian, too shocked from how fast the man had moved, crashed into the wall behind the monitors. He grunted as he tried to stand up, only to have to throw himself to the ground again when bullets suddenly hit right over his head. When the shots stopped he glanced up. The man was still standing in the middle of the cave, his gun and sword back in their holsters. Damian took a calming breath. This man was not one of the usual villains they faced. This was an assassin. And suddenly it hit him that he was alone in the cave. Alone in the mansion, because Alfred could not be counted on when it came to an opponent like this. He stood up, his hand tightening around the sword. He still had it in his hand. Of course he did. Letting go of his weapon, just because he had been thrown through the air, would equal suicide. And stupidness. He glanced to the monitors. Where was Nightwing? He was supposed to be here by now. He attacked again, this time more mindful of how quick the man was. The man just side stepped his attacks with an ease that made Damian even more furious. It was his duty as Robin to protect the cave when Batman wasn’t there. He attacked even more furiously, only to be thrown through the air again. This time he hit the table and almost screamed when he felt pain shoot through his entire body. He collapsed to the ground and heard the man take a few steps forward. He looked up at the man and briefly wondered if this was what hopelessness felt like. If this was how Todd had felt when Joker killed him. Because there was no question in his mind about it. He was going to die. This man was something entirely different. But then it struck him suddenly. The way the man had moved. The way he had easily sidestepped his attacks. He had seen a familiar way of fighting before. Grayson. Switching his brain from ‘random opponent’ to ‘Nightwing’, he attacked again. This time, he managed to get in a few kicks, before his back collided with the table again. He raised his head up to the man and opened his mouth to say something, but the man beat him to it. 

“Where is Nightwing? You tell me that, boy, and I’ll let you live.”

As if on cue, they both heard the door open again and quiet light steps coming towards them. 

“I’ve brought pizza!” 

Grayson’s voice could be heard from the hallway and Damian opened his mouth to warn him about the intruder, but the man was quicker. He kicked the boy in his chest, knocking the air out of his lungs and silencing him. Seconds later, Nightwing came into the cave, carrying seven boxes of pizza. Damian watched as the man stepped a bit more to the middle of the room and then saw the pizza boxes tumble to the ground. Dick had taken his mask off and Damian wanted to curse his stupidity. But then he calmed down a bit. They were in the cave. A safe place. Even Batman took his mask off in here. Dick’s eyes were wide open, a look of pure shock in them. That alone told Damian all he needed to know. They knew each other. Was it someone from Dick’s past with the Young Justice? Even further back? Teen Titans? His childhood before becoming a bat? He sat up slightly, his hand still tight on his sword. Hearing him move, made Dick finally snap out of it. He jumped down the stairs, pulling out his Escrima Sticks at the same time. The man raised his hands up in a calming motion. 

“Stand down.” 

Nightwing didn’t react to that. He glanced over to Damian and worry appeared on his face. 

“You alright, Robin?” 

Damian nodded, while the man made a disapproving sound. 

“Don’t call him that, Little Bird. He’s not the real Robin and we both know that.” 

Dick turned back to the man, while Damian felt slight worry at the words. Little Bird? How well did these two know each other? Dick took a step to the side, making sure to keep the man’s attention on himself and not Damian. 

“What are you doing here, Deathstroke?” 

Deathstroke. Damian held in a gasp. Of course he had heard about that man. The best assassin in the world. He looked between the two men. How did they know each other? And know each other so well that Dick was clearly not bothered that his mask was not on. The man shook his head. When he spoke again, his voice had taken on the tone of a disapproving parent talking to his child. 

“Drop the tone, Little Bird. It won’t get you anything other than a punishment.” 

Damian noticed how stiff Dick’s entire body was and felt even more confusion. What was going on? Why hadn’t Nightwing attacked yet? He got his answer when Deathstroke spoke again. 

“And don’t even think about fighting me. You’re too tense for that. And shift the grip on your right stick a bit more down.” 

With a furious sound ripping out of his throat, Dick attacked. Damian, who had been watching him carefully, noticed how his grip on his right stick shifted and felt shock. It was overall knowledge that Nightwing didn’t take criticism or advice from anyone. Not when it came to his fighting style. Deathstroke laughed, while he countered every single attack. Damian was slightly surprised to see that Nightwing was still standing after a few blows had been exchanged. He stood up to join the fight, when he heard Dick’s voice. 

“Robin! Call for backup!” 

Normally, he would have ignored a command like that. But there was something in Dick’s voice that had him turning around and running over to the headset that was connected to the rest of the bats. And that thing, was pure fear.


	2. I'll Do It

Damian grabbed the headset and quickly put it into his ear. 

“I need backup in the cave.” 

He tried to keep his voice as calm as possible, but he was aware that there was slight worry in it. He heard the fighting behind him, but ignored it, in favor of concentrating on the voices that started to filter in. 

“What’s wrong, Robin? Did the lights go out?” 

Tim’s voice was joking, and Damian felt anger. There was a reason why he didn’t like the third Robin. 

“Red. Calm down.” 

Bruce’s calm voice came through. 

“What’s going on Robin?” 

There was no bigger worry in his voice and Damian felt even more anger. If it had been Tim or Dick or even Jason calling for backup, everyone would be on their way before they even thought about asking what was going on. 

“Deathstroke broke into the cave and…” 

He didn’t get to continue, because a third voice cut in, with sharpness. 

“Deathstroke?” 

Damian didn’t think he would ever be so relieved to hear Jason’s voice. But, before he could say anything, Tim chimed in. 

“Red Hood? What are you even doing on our channel?” 

“Shut up, Drake.” 

“No names on the channel.” 

“And you can fuck off, Bruce. Damian, is Dick there?” 

Damian smiled hearing Jason shut the other two bats down so easily. He still didn’t want to be compared to the man, but he admitted that it would be an advantage to have him on his side against the rest. 

“Yeah. He came here a few minutes ago. They are fighting.” 

He heard a bike revving up and understood that Jason must’ve started it. His suspicion was confirmed when he heard Jason’s serious voice. 

“I’m just a few minutes away. What is everyone’s ETA?”

There was something dangerous, almost like a threat, in his words, and Damian was relieved when the other two answered without any other arguments. 

“I’m at least 20 minutes away.” 

Bruce’s voice answered next. 

“I’m even further away. I’ll pick you up on my way back, Red.” 

Jason’s answer was furious. 

“Fuck off, both of you. Robin, talk to me. What happened.” 

Damian turned to the fight again. Nightwing was still holding his ground, even though his lip was bleeding. He froze, seeing how the two moved while fighting. It was clear that Deathstroke was better than Nightwing. And it was also clear that he was not giving him his best, because Nightwing hadn’t been thrown across the room yet. Jason’s voice came through the headset again, snapping Damian out of his shock. 

“Robin. Talk to me.” 

His voice was still rough, but there was a calmer undertone in it. 

“He came in here, and started talking about how no one was like the original Robin. I fought him, and then Nightwing came in and told me to call for backup while he started fighting.” 

He heard the bike suddenly shut off. 

“I’m soon there. Don’t engage him, Robin. Whatever happens, do not engage him. He won’t hesitate to kill you.” 

And then his voice disappeared. Damian wanted to help Dick, but he had noticed the difference in Deathstroke’s fighting style. When he had fought Damian, he hadn’t held back. With Dick, he seemed to actually try to not injure him too severely. Suddenly, Nightwing ducked under one of the punches, only to get kicked in the stomach seconds later. He flew through the room and crashed into the wall. He slid down it and stayed on the ground when he saw Deathstroke stride over to him. Damian noticed that the assassin had still not drawn any of his weapons against Dick. 

“You can’t beat me, Little Bird. You know that.” 

“He can’t. But I can.” 

The Red Hood flipped down from the balcony and landed behind Deathstroke. The assassin turned around and slowly pulled his swords out. 

“You want to play? Let’s play.” 

And he attacked. Jason quickly flipped away and pulled out his guns, shooting as he jumped. But the bullets seemed to just bounce off of Deathstroke’s armour and Jason cursed under his breath. Meanwhile, Nightwing had gotten up. He motioned to Damian to stay where he was, and then jumped into the fight, forcing Deathstroke to move his attention away from Jason. The Hood used that to draw a knife and throw it at the assassin. But Deathstroke must’ve anticipated it, because he used Dick’s own momentum to flip them around and put Dick in the line of the flying knife. Reacting on instinct, Nightwing jumped to the side, giving Deathstroke the time to fire at Jason. But the man was not stupid. In the time it had taken Deathstroke to lift his gun, Jason was already on the other side of the room. He attacked with ferocity and Damian was shocked when he saw that Dick was fighting with just as much violence as the other two. He wasn’t holding back, as he usually did when they were facing crooks and lesser villains. Damian’s brain shorted slightly when he realized what Dick was doing, but he was brought back by Batman’s voice in his ear.

“Robin? What’s the situation?” 

He was happy to hear that there was slight worry in his voice. 

“Red Hood is here.” 

“Good. We’re five minutes away.” 

Deathstroke tilted his head suddenly. 

“And that’s my cue.” 

It was so fitting to what Batman had just said that both Damian and Jason seemed a bit startled. Dick was the only one who didn’t react, just attacked with even more force, Jason following his lead. Meanwhile, Deathstroke kept talking. 

“I wouldn’t want to run into the Bat right now.” 

And that confirmed Damian’s suspicions. The assassin was listening in to their conversation. With a powerful hit to the base of his neck, Deathstroke put Jason out of the fight, kicking his limp body away from them. Then he grabbed Dick’s arms and twisted them, before throwing the man down to the floor. Damian felt his hand tighten on his sword again, but stopped himself from attacking when he saw the gun pointed at him. On the floor, Dick’s eyes widened. 

“Slade.” 

The man turned towards him. 

“Would you like to try that again, Little Bird?” 

Dick shook all over. 

“I’m not playing your game again. Never again.” 

The man shrugged one shoulder. 

“That’s your choice. Just know this, Dick. I will leave with a Robin today. And it doesn’t really matter if I leave with the first or the last.” 

Damian almost growled when he understood what the other man was implying. He looked over to Dick and met his blue eyes. They were full of fear, and that made Damian really worried. Because he had never seen Dick Grayson really scared. This was the man who would shoot the grappling hook just seconds before hitting the ground, because he loved the thrill of flying through the air. This was the man who would look a villain straight in the face and crack a joke about his appearance. This was the great Nightwing. And Nightwing was never scared. 

“How can I know you won’t just kill us all?” 

Damian wanted to berate Dick for even considering reasoning with the villain, but Deathstroke’s calm voice stopped him. 

“When have I ever lied to you, Little Bird? I never did. After all, why lie…” 

“When the truth is so much more painful.” 

Dick finished the sentence in a shaky voice. But then he seemed to pull himself together, and he nodded. 

“If you promise me that you will leave and not hurt them, I’ll do it.” 

They could both hear the satisfaction in Deathstroke’s voice when he answered. 

“Of course.” 

He walked over to Dick and stretched his hand out. After slight hesitation, Dick grabbed it and let the older man pull him to his feet. All the time, the gun was trained on Damian’s head. 

“Let’s go. And you better not forget who I am to you.” 

Dick nodded slightly, and that was when Damian found his voice again. 

“Grayson.” 

Dick smiled at him. 

“It’s alright, Little D. Just stay here. You’ll be safe.” 

“Dick. We’re leaving.” 

Dick gave Damian another small smile, before turning to Deathstroke and lowering his head. 

“Yes, master.” 

And they left, before Damian could find it in himself to move. When Bruce and Tim arrived in the cave a few minutes later, they found Jason passed out on the floor and Damian still standing in the same spot, the sword clutched tightly in his hand. 


	3. Your Room

Slade led him out of the cave and towards where a big motorcycle was standing. Dick looked around and, not seeing anyone, sighed. He had hoped that Bruce would show up. Like he had done the last time. But the Batman was nowhere to be seen. Slade walked over to the motorcycle and sat down on the seat. Then he turned to where Dick was standing. 

“Dick.” 

It felt weird to hear his nickname from the villain's lips. When he had been with him before, he had always been called Robin or Little Bird. Never Dick or Richard, or even Grayson. He thought back to the situation inside. He had frozen, when he saw Slade. All the memories had crashed back into him. Everything he had been trying to avoid thinking about. But he moved again when he remembered that Damian was in the room as well. He had to fight. For Damian. He couldn’t let his little brother get hurt. He felt relief when Jason showed up. If anyone, Jason would be able to fight Slade. Some of his confidence came back to him, seeing the way him and his brother easily fell into a rhythm. Hearing Bruce on the channel had been a relief too. But it had proven to be a short lived one. He hadn’t been surprised that Slade was on the same channel as them. The man never went in without a plan. He saw Jason get knocked out and felt himself get thrown to the floor, which meant that Slade was done playing around. He noticed Damian twitching slightly, almost as if he wanted to fight, but then everything froze around him, when he saw the gun that was pointed at his little brother. Being given the option between himself and Damian, he knew what he would choose. Just like all those years ago, when he had put his friends best before his own. There was no way he was letting the assassin anywhere near Damian. 

“Nightwing!” 

Slade’s sharp voice snapped him back to reality. How long had they been standing there? Was Bruce somewhere close? Slade shook his head. 

“I know what you’re thinking, Little Bird. And let me tell you this. If the Bat comes here before we leave, I will run. But I will come back later on, and murder your entire family and all of your friends, until you have no one left in the world. Do you understand?” 

Quickly, Dick nodded and pointed towards a door in the wall. 

“My motorcycle is there. I’ll just…” 

“No!” 

The word was spoken sharply and Dick looked at him with confusion. 

“I don’t trust you enough, to let you go on your own.” 

For a moment, Dick was still confused. But then he realized what Slade was still waiting for. Moving slowly, he went over to the man and sat down on the bike. But then he paused again. There was nothing to hold onto. On the rare occasions he went on one bike with Jason, he would simply grab onto his jacket and try to not release any of Jason’s many gadgets. But there was no way he was doing it with Slade. It was too intimate in some way. With an impatient sigh, the assassin grabbed his hands and, before Dick could comprehend what was happening, pulled them so that they were around his waist. The motion almost made Dick faceplant into Slade’s back and kept him off balance long enough for the man to cuff his wrists together. 

“If you even try to pull us both off while I drive, I’ll make you regret it.” 

He nodded and closed his eyes. There was no way out of this now. Even if Bruce showed up, he had to go with Slade. He had to protect his family. As Slade calmly drove out onto the road, Dick closed his eyes. What would the assassin do to him? He still remembered the last time he was with Slade. He had been beaten, starved and humiliated. And he had been so close to the breaking point. If Bruce and the Titans hadn’t came for him when they did, he was sure he would have given in. Done whatever Slade told him to do. And it wouldn’t be just about keeping his friends safe. After a few months of constant torture, he had been close to just giving up, just to get the pain to stop. Now, he was wondering what was going to happen. His pain limit was way higher than it had been when he was 15. And, after the last time, there was little Slade could do to humiliate him. He kept his eyes closed all the way to where Slade was taking him. He knew that there was no way the assassin would even let him think about escaping, so there was no idea in trying to know where they were going. He looked up first when the motorcycle stopped and Slade uncuffed his wrists. Quickly, he stood up and took a few steps away from the man. Slade slowly got off the seat and tilted his head. 

“You’re not having second thoughts, do you Little Bird? Because I could always go back and take the young one if you want to back out.” 

Dick shook his head and stepped closer to the assassin. 

“Good. Get inside.” 

He pointed at the door to the big house they were in front of and Dick quickly walked through it, Slade following close behind. They walked through hallways, Slade occasionally giving Dick instructions about where to turn, until they came to a door with a golden R on it. Dick stopped in shock. It was the R he wore on his old uniform. The R that had been on the uniform Slade took away from him, all those years ago. The assassin stopped too and, when Dick turned to him, he noticed that the man had taken off his mask and was smirking at him. 

“This is your room.” 

Very slowly, Dick opened the door and walked inside, Slade stopping in the doorway. The young man looked around with surprise. He had been expecting a cold cell. Instead, he was given a room with a wardrobe, a desk and a rug. There was no window, but he had expected that much. A window would be too much of a temptation. He looked back to the assassin, and Slade raised an eyebrow. 

“What?” 

“I… There is no bed.” 

He hated the way his voice shook at the beginning of the sentence. But he still remembered the last time. For the first two weeks, he had been forced to sleep on the floor in the dungeons. Then he got ‘promoted’ to the floor in the hallway. It took him a month after that to get moved to the floor in Slade’s room. And then came the worst part. Slade had ‘allowed’ him to sleep in his bed. And that was a real nightmare. Even though the assassin had promised him that he would never rape him, he had trouble believing him. He refused to sleep, had trouble concentrating in trainings and often failed on missions. Noticing that, Slade had moved him back to the floor, but given him a few pillows and a blanket. That had finally made him sleep again. Slade shook his head. 

“You haven’t deserved it yet. Behave, and I’ll let you stay here. Misbehave, and you’ll end up in my room.” 

Dick nodded quickly. There was no way he was going there again. 

“There is a training room in the basement. Kitchen is on the second floor. Breakfast is at 6am, dinner at 5pm. I expect you to show up for both. You are allowed to move around the mansion, but if a door is closed, you are forbidden to even try to go in there. If I call you, you have to appear in under one minute. Wherever you are, whatever you’re doing. You can go into the kitchen to drink water, but if you try to eat anything, you will be severely punished. There are phones in the house, but if you even touch one of them, I will make sure you can’t move for a week. Understood?” 

Dick nodded again. Those rules weren’t that bad. Was Slade losing his touch? 

“Yeah. Understood.” 

The assassin moved across the room with shocking speed, and backhanded him across the face, with enough force to open up the wound on his lip again. 

“Try that again.” 

His thoughts raced, and then he realized what the man was waiting for. 

“Yes, master.” 

Those two words came out much easier than he would have liked it and he felt something inside of him break. There was no way out of this now. Last time, he had managed to fight Slade because it seemed to amuse the man. And, with a few well placed apologies, he could always persuade him to not kill the Titans. This time, the stakes were much higher. There were no probes. There was no on and off button. If he slipped up, if he failed, Slade wouldn’t hesitate to put a bullet in someone’s head. And there were many people he could target. Bruce, Alfred, Jason, Tim, Damian, Babs, Cass, Steph. But then he realized that Slade had said family and friends. His thoughts wandered to Wally, Artemis and Kaldur. The Harpers. Members of the League he had gotten close to. Beast Boy and Cyborg who had been with him in the Teen Titans. He was just happy that Raven and Starfire were off Earth on an assignment. At least they were safe. Slade frowned. 

“You’re overthinking. That’s never a good thing. Stay here until it’s time for breakfast. Don’t be late.” 

With that, Slade left, closing the door behind him. Dick noticed that he didn’t lock it, but understood quickly that he didn’t have to. There was no way he was going to run with his family’s lives at stake. With a sigh, he pulled the rug over to a corner and sat down on it, leaning against a wall. There was no way he could fall asleep right now, so he figured that making it to breakfast for 6am would not be a problem. But then he looked around the room again and realized a terrible fact. There was no clock in his room.


	4. We Need To Talk

Tim rushed over to Jason, while Bruce quickly made his way over to Damian. 

“Jason. Jason! Wake up!” 

Jason groaned and sat up slowly. Moving with care, he rubbed his neck, before swearing. 

“Fucking jerk! Hit me right where the mask ends.” 

Then he looked around and quickly jumped up. 

“Where is Dick?” 

There was clear worry in his voice, but Bruce ignored it. Instead, he crouched down in front of Damian. 

“Damian. What happened here?” 

His voice was hard and emotionless, and that made all of Damian’s anger suddenly flood over. With one quick move, he swung the sword at Bruce. The Bat jumped back, his eyes widening. Damian went to attack again, only to have his hand stopped by Jason. 

“Damian. Stop it. We need to find Dick. Then you can cut the Bat up all you want. But we need to concentrate on Dick now.” 

Very slowly, Damian nodded. With a sigh, Jason let go of his hand and turned back to Bruce. 

“Although the kid has a point. What took you so long?” 

Tim decided to not get involved in the fight and simply walked over to the monitors. Bruce took a deep breath. 

“We were on the other side of town. I thought you could handle this until we got here.” 

“Handle this?! You fucking asshole! We’re talking about Deathstroke here. The guy who single handedly fought Teen Titans and won, fought Young Justice and won, and fought the League and won. Or at least got away from you, without any injuries. And you thought that me, Dick and Damian could handle him?” 

Bruce took another calming breath, clearly trying to not explode at Jason. 

“Dick has fought him before, Damian is a trained assassin, however much that displeases me, and you have fought worse before. I hoped that you could hold him off until we got here.” 

He looked over to Damian, who had no visible injuries and frowned. 

“Did you even fight him, Damian?” 

The boy nodded but, before he could say anything, Jason cut in again. 

“Lay off the kid. He fought before Dick got here, then we told him to stay back and he listened to our order. Isn’t that what you have been trying to teach him? Listening to orders?” 

Damian had to admit that he was impressed by how Jason could flip the conversation so easily and make his opponent have to answer for himself. But, at the same time, he couldn’t understand why Jason of all people was standing up for him. It was usually Dick’s role. 

“Well, as far as I’ve seen, he’s not very good at doing that.” 

Damian felt anger rise in him again but, instead of charging, he simply answered in a calm voice. 

“Well, maybe I simply decided to take orders from people who actually respect me.” 

Then he turned away from a shocked Bruce and looked up at Jason. 

“Deathstroke took Grayson.” 

Immediately everyone’s attention was on him, even Tim stopping the typing he was doing. 

“How?” 

“He…” 

Damian hesitated for a split second. He knew that Dick did it to protect him. But how would the others react to it? 

“Deathstroke said something to Grayson, I don’t know what, it was too quiet. Then Grayson nodded, told me to stay here and wait for the others, and left with him.” 

“And you’re sure that you didn’t hear what he said?” 

Damian shook his head. 

“I’m sure.” 

Bruce walked over to the monitors. 

“We need a plan. Tim, contact Cyborg and Beast Boy. They were with Dick the first time Deathstroke came around. We might need any information they have. I’ll contact some of the Justice League. If we’ll have to fight Deathstroke, I want them with us. Jason, Damian. You two go wake up Alfred and clean yourselves up. You have blood on your neck, Jason.” 

Damian was going to argue, but Jason beat him to it. 

“You’re sending us away because you’re disappointed in us right? That we didn’t fight better.” 

Then he shook his head. 

“Screw you, Bruce.” 

And, before Bruce could even think about answering, he grabbed Damian’s shoulder and pulled the boy out of the room. Outside the cave, he let go of him and sighed. 

“Come with me, kid. We need to talk.” 

Damian didn’t like the way he said that, but decided to go along just to see what the Red Hood could have to say to him. Jason led him to one of the first guest rooms on the first floor and motioned him to go inside. He closed the door behind them and sat heavily down on the bed. After a few seconds of silence, he lifted his hands up to his mask and pulled it off. Damian was shocked, when he saw a tired look on the man’s face. And then he was suddenly struck by how alike Jason and Dick were. Not in personality, but in looks. Out of all the Robins, those two were most alike. Well, except for the white strip of hair in Jason’s fringe and the fact that Dick’s hair had grown all the way to his shoulders and that he was refusing to cut it. But they had almost identical bone structure and the same blue eyes. The expressions were of course different. Jason often frowned and wore angry or irritated faces while Dick was almost always calm. But, if anyone had to ask about which Robins could be related, most people would answer Jason and Dick. Tim’s hair was blackish brown and his eyes were slightly lighter than the others. Damian himself looked too much like Bruce, and then there were his green eyes. 

“Damian. What did Slade tell Dick?” 

Damian frowned at him. 

“I told you that…” 

“Cut the crap, kid. You’re not the first Robin who’s lied to Bruce. Takes one to know one. Now tell me the truth.” 

The young boy hesitated. If Bruce had pressed him for an answer, he would have most probably answered. Bruce never really seemed to care for any of them. It was always the mission first. But Jason had made it clear that he was putting Dick first. Even if it meant fighting Deathstroke. Even if it meant working with Bruce. Seeing that he was conflicted, Jason put his hand on his shoulder. 

“Listen to me, kid. And listen carefully, because I’m not good at this. It’s usually Dick’s thing. No one will blame you for what happened. Deathstroke is the one who is to blame. You did the right thing to not fight.” 

Damian closed his fists. Seeing that, Jason frowned. 

“What is this about?” 

“Grayson went instead of me.” 

Jason’s expression became confused and he drew his hand away from Damian’s shoulder. 

“What?” 

There was something dangerous in his voice and Damian took a step back on instinct. He never backed down from an angry Bruce, but Jason wasn’t anyone he wanted to piss off. He had seen a man be brought back by the Pit before. It took ten highly trained assassins to take him down. And that was someone who didn’t have any training. He didn’t want to even think about what Jason could be capable of if he finally snapped. But then he decided to own up to what happened.

“After he knocked you out, Deathstroke told Grayson that he would leave with a Robin. And that he didn’t care if he took the first or the last one. Grayson went with him, so that he wouldn’t take me.” 

Jason stood up, walked over to the wall and punched a hole in it. Damian flinched slightly when he saw that, but didn’t try to leave. After a few seconds of heavy breathing, Jason walked back to the bed and flopped down onto it. 

“That fucker.” 

Damian frowned. 

“Who?” 

Jason looked up at him with confusion, before sudden understanding appeared in his eyes. 

“Damian. Listen to me. It’s not you I’m mad at. It’s Slade. This is not the first time he has used someone close to Dick.” 

Damian tilted his head. 

“Why would Grayson even do that? I can take care of myself. I know how to deal with villains.” 

Suddenly, Jason flew up from his seat, anger clear on his face. He started pacing around the room, his voice furious when he started talking. 

“You know? You don’t know anything. You don’t know what it’s like when your big brother, the guy you look up to, falls asleep on the floor in your room because he had bad memories of sleeping in a bed. You don’t know what it’s like to see your brother beg Bruce for everything. Being allowed to eat, drink, even sit at the table. And I mean beg, because simply asking didn’t work anymore and he had to beg. You don’t know what it’s like to have the only person you actually care about, so broken that he thinks you will torture him for something as simple as getting a glass of water for himself.”

He sat down on the bed again and put his head in his hands. 

“You know nothing about this, Damian.” 

Damian looked at him, shocked by the broken voice. He had never heard Jason sound like that. 

“You’re right.” 

His words surprised even himself. But, when he continued talking, he knew that he meant every word. 

“But if we don’t do something, I will know. We need to get Grayson back before Deathstroke can do anything to him.” 

Jason looked up to him and sudden determination appeared on his face. 

“Alright. Bruce and Tim are calling their people. We will be calling someone ourselves.” 

Damian tilted his head. 

“Who?” 

A smirk appeared on Jason’s face. 

“Wally West.” 


	5. Wally

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> HAPPY HOLIDAYS!

“Wally West? The speedster? Why him?” 

Jason pulled out his phone and started looking through his contacts. 

“He’s Dick’s best friend. He’s also the only other person, except for me, who knows about everything that happened to Dick when he was with Slade.” 

Damian took a step closer. 

“Jason. What happened back then? Why was Grayson with Deathstroke? When did this happen? It seems as if I’m the only one around here who doesn’t know about it.” 

Jason put the phone on the bed next to him and took a deep breath. 

“Alright. I’ll tell you the overall story. When Dick was 15, he became the leader of Teen Titans. Back then, he was obsessed with capturing Slade. But, all of his attempts just drew Slade’s attention to him and made him interesting. He decided that he would have Robin as an apprentice. Of course, Dick would never do it willingly. So Slade injected the rest of the team with probes that could kill them if activated. Then he gave Dick a choice. If he worked for him, as his apprentice, Slade would let the team live. The team tried to deal with it for a few weeks but couldn’t do it themselves. They tried all they could but, after some time, it seemed that Robin had became like Slade. That he had turned to crime. Bruce was called in, to help them deal with Robin since none of them could bring him down. Bruce went there, figured everything out and managed to save both the team and Robin. But, by that time, Dick had been with Slade for over five months. Bruce took him off the team and brought him back here to recover. But, as far as I know, Dick never told Bruce about all the details of what happened there. About what Slade did. The only two people who know everything about that are me and Wally West. Speaking of which, I need your phone.” 

Damian, even though he was still digesting everything Jason had told him, pulled his phone out and gave it to the man. Jason quickly punched in a number from his phone and put it on speaker. 

“Why don’t you call from your own?” 

He smirked slightly. 

“Me and West don’t exactly get along. He won’t answer my number.” 

After almost seven rings, they heard a voice on the other side. 

“Hallo? This is Wally West.”

“Hey Wally. It’s Jason.” 

“Yeah. Okay. I’m hanging up.” 

Damian’s eyes widened and he quickly moved closer. 

“Wait. It’s about Grayson.” 

There was silence for a few seconds, before Wally spoke up again. 

“Is that Damian?”

Damian and Jason exchanged surprised looks, before Damian answered. 

“Yeah. How do you know about me?” 

“Dick told me. Can’t shut up about you whenever he calls. So what is it?” 

Jason took over, knowing that Wally would not hang up when he heard his voice this time. 

“Deathstroke attacked the cave. He took Dick.” 

They heard a sharp intake of breath from the other side of the phone and then Wally’s hurried voice. 

“I’ll be in the mansion soon. Give me a few minutes.” 

And he hung up. Jason stood up and rolled his shoulders, vincing when he pulled at the wound on his neck. 

“Alright. Go and wake up Alfred. I need to clean this off.” 

Damian frowned. 

“Maybe you should let Alfred look at that.” 

Jason glared at him. 

“I spend 90% of my life on my own and grew up on the streets. I know how to take care of myself.” 

With a shrug, Damian walked out of the room and headed to where Alfred was sleeping. He thought about knocking, but then decided against it. Maybe the butler wouldn’t hear it. Instead, he just opened the door and walked inside. Alfred’s room was freakishly clean. The butler was asleep and so still in his bed that Damian got a sudden thought that they wouldn’t notice if he had died. Everyone would think that he was simply asleep. With careful steps, he walked over to the bed and shook the man. 

“Alfred.” 

One eye opened blearly and Alfred sighed quietly. 

“Did you have another nightmare, Dick?” 

He scooted over to make more place on the bed and Damian’s eyes widened. What? Dick? His thoughts raced, before everything fell into place. Alfred must’ve mistaken him for a young Dick. Especially since he was still in his Robin costume. Nightmares? Why would Dick Grayson have nightmares when he was younger? The boy was suddenly hit with the thought that he knew next to nothing about Dick’s past other than the fact that he was born in a circus and his parents were dead. Collecting himself quickly, he shook the butler. 

“Alfred. It’s Damian.” 

The butler’s eyes shot open in surprise and he sat up. 

“Master Damian. Is something wrong?” 

Damian nodded. 

“Yeah. Deathstroke was here and took Grayson. Father wants to see you in the cave.” 

Alfred’s eyes became even wider and he quickly stood up. 

“I’ll just get changed and be there in a minute.” 

And he hurried towards the bathroom. With a shrug, Damian left his room and walked back to where he had left Jason. He opened the door and frowned. Jason was standing in front of the mirror with his back to it, trying to see the back of his neck. Damian sighed and walked further into the room, only to sway slightly when a gust of wind passed next to him. Wally stopped in the middle of the room and looked around. 

“What happened?” 

Then, without a word, he sprinted to Jason and, before the man noticed anything, cleaned his wound and bandaged it. Then he ran over to the bed and sat down. 

“Alright. Now talk.” 

Jason glared at him, but he understood that they didn’t have time. 

“Slade broke in here when Damian was alone. He fought Damian and then Dick arrived. Dick told Damian to call in backup. I was closest so I got here first. We told Damian to stay away and fought Slade. He managed to knock me out and then gave Dick a choice. Either Dick goes with him, or he takes Damian. So Dick followed him.” 

Wally nodded slightly and seemed to think very hard about something. Then he stood up. 

“Alright. You two need to sleep.” 

Both boys looked ready to protest, but he just raised his voice to talk over them. 

“I mean it. You were on patrol. And I don’t even want to know how long you were up before that. You two need to go to sleep. You won’t be of any help to Dick if you can’t think clearly because you’re tired. Dick has been held by Deathstroke before. He’ll be able to keep himself out of trouble. Stay in this room so that it will be easier for me to find you. I'll try to get a hold on Roy. He’ll want to help once he gets to know that Dick is in trouble. And I’ll see if I can maybe get in contact with either Raven or Starfire.” 

“They are off earth on a mission.” 

Wally nodded. 

“I know. But there must be a way to contact them. Raven and Dick share a deep bond. If he gets in real trouble, she will know. I would rather have told her about the situation myself than have a pissed off Raven after my head.” 

Jason winced slightly. 

“You’ve got a point. But we can’t just leave it like this. What if Slade decides to torture Dick?” 

“Listen to me, To… Jason. Dick’s pain tolerance is almost impossible to understand. Slade knows that. If he decides to torture him, he will do it psychologically. And Batman’s training should keep Dick from snapping for at least a few days. Which gives us time to regroup and figure out how to get him out of there without Slade taking the kid.” 

Damian made an offended noise. 

“Don’t call me a kid.” 

Wally smiled at him. 

“Sorry. But you are a kid. Now. You two go to sleep.” 

Jason glanced at the clock and then nodded. 

“Four hours, West.” 

“Sure. I’ll wake you up.” 

And he sped out of the room again. Damian turned to Jason. 

“You heard him. Change into something more comfortable, that you can still fight in, and come back here. We both need sleep if we want to face Deathstroke.” 

Damian hesitated, before nodding and walking out of the room. Jason pulled his jacket off, threw it on a chair and, using spare blankets and pillows, made himself a bed on the ground. He flopped down onto it and sighed. He wanted to find Dick now. But he understood Wally’s logic. Dick could deal with Deathstroke. Jason, Damian and Wally couldn’t. They needed more help. And they needed to be at the top of their own game. He heard Damian walking back inside and pointed at the bed. 

“Sleep.” 

Damian eyed his makeshift bed and then pointed to the actual bed. 

“Are you sure you don’t want to sleep up here?” 

Jason rolled his eyes. 

“Yeah, I’m sure. Now go to sleep.” 

He put a gun under his pillow and closed his eyes. Minutes later, he was asleep. 


	6. Similar

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> HAPPY VALENTINE'S DAY!!!

Dick was a nervous wreck. He had been doing all he could to count minutes, but it wasn’t easy. He didn’t dare leaving the room too early and making Slade angry. When he thought the clock was a few minutes before 6am he stood up and walked out of the room. As quietly as he could, he moved through the house, finding the kitchen quite quickly. He walked inside and stopped. Slade was already there, sitting at the table with a plate of scrambled eggs in front of him. The man looked up at him when he entered and raised an eyebrow. 

“You’re late.” 

Dick looked around the kitchen, his eyes stopping at a clock. He was seven minutes late. 

“I’m sorry.” 

He knew he had to keep Slade calm, or he would most probably be beaten and not be able to move for a few days. Slowly, he walked over to the table, pulled out a chair and sat down. Seconds later, he felt a hit against it when Slade kicked it under the table. There was so much power behind the kick that the chair toppled backwards making Dick fall off. He managed to keep his head up a bit and not hit it on the floor, but he still felt the fall in his back. 

“Stand up.” 

He took a calming breath and stood up, picking the chair up at the same time. 

“I didn’t tell you that you could sit down. And you seem to have forgotten how to address me properly.” 

Dick tensed up. 

“Slade…” 

He had to duck to avoid getting a knife stuck in his shoulder. The mercenary just looked at him calmly. 

“Do you want to try that again?” 

Usually, Dick would keep fighting, but this time he decided to back off. He needed to pick his battles if he wanted to keep Slade happy. Keep Slade away from his family. 

“I’m sorry, master. Can I sit down?” 

Slade looked him up and down, before nodding. Dick sat down and stretched his hand to the middle of the table where a few apples were. Right before he could grab one of them, Slade slapped his hand away and gave him a glare. 

“I said that I expected you to show up at breakfast. Not that you would be allowed to eat.” 

Dick pulled his hand back and took another calming breath. Slade frowned at him. 

“You can speak.” 

The young man gave him a shocked look. 

“Really? And who will you kill if I say the wrong thing?” 

For a few seconds, Slade was just staring at him. Then he sighed and pushed his plate to the side. 

“I have a feeling that we need to get a few things explained. You won’t be punished for what you say during this talk. And that’s a one time free pass. Do you understand?” 

Dick nodded. 

“Good. Now let’s start with this. Do you know why you are here? Why I chose you?” 

“Because…” 

Dick paused. If he was being honest, he had no idea why Slade was so obsessed with him. Slade nodded. 

“As I thought. Do you remember when you were younger and I told you that you and I are similar?” 

“Sadly.” 

Amusement flashed across Slade’s face for a second. 

“I was going to kill you.” 

Dick frowned. 

“What does that have to do with us being similar?”

“When I first ran into the Titans, I was going to kill you all. But then I saw you, and I realized that I couldn’t kill you. You and I were too similar.” 

The young man snorted. 

“Being dedicated to our goal and the dislike of losing doesn’t make us the same.” 

He glared at Slade, while the man seemed to study him carefully. It made Dick uncomfortable. But, then again, almost everything Slade did made him uncomfortable. 

“Is that all you can see?” 

And, seeing Dick’s frown, he continued. 

“Do you want to know what I see? What I think?” 

It was dangerous. If he let Slade talk too much, he would start feeling sympathy for the man. Just like he did back then. Slade could break him with just his words. He knew that. But, on the other side, he could find out more about him this way. Let him talk. Get something that he could use against him. Very slowly, he nodded. 

“We’ve both been through way more than anyone should. Me with my past, you with yours. I’ve lost my family, you lost yours. The military created me, Batman created you. We were both controlled by others. Bound. And then we broke free. Created our own paths. Me with Deathstroke, you with Nightwing. We’ve both lost people along the way. I lost my wife, my children. You lost your brother. You lost Batman for a while. And through it all, we survived. Did whatever it took to stay alive. To survive everyone who tried to kill us. You and I? We’re the same. Not because of our personalities. Because of what we’ve been through. Because of what we’ve lost and how that shaped us.” 

“You’re a murderer.” 

Dick’s voice was quiet and he found that he couldn’t put any real heat behind the words. Slade nodded. 

“Yes. I am. But so is your brother, isn’t he?” 

“Jay…” 

Dick stopped himself. He wanted to say that Jason only killed the ones who deserved it. But it wasn’t the truth. He had seen it himself. Jason killing petty criminals, simply because they got in his way. But it was still different. 

“Jason isn’t like you.” 

Slade smiled. 

“No. He isn’t. And I’m not trying to make you like me. I don’t need that. All I need of you is that you understand. Don’t run from it anymore. You belong here.” 

Right then, the door opened and an older man stepped inside. Slade nodded at him. 

“Billy. Clean up here and then show the boy down to the training room. Don’t give him any food.” 

He stood up and marched out of the kitchen. Dick waited for a few seconds before smiling up at the old man. 

“Hi, Billy.” 

Billy shook his head. 

“You simply can’t stay away from him, can you?” 

“He kidnapped me!” 

“And you decided to sit down and talk to him instead of running?” 

Dick grinned at him. 

“I’ve missed you, Billy.” 

The old man nodded with a frown. 

“I missed you too, but I hoped I would never see you again. You will never listen to him and he’ll just end up having to hurt you again.” 

Dick shrugged. 

“I can take torture. Wouldn’t be the first time.” 

As Billy started cleaning away Slade’s uneaten breakfast, Dick tried to think through everything Slade had said. Something stood out to him. 

“Billy? Slade said that he lost his wife and children. What did he mean by that?” 

Billy froze, his hands gripping the plate way too hard. 

“Billy?” 

The old man put the plate down and sat on Slade’s chair. 

“What I tell you now, must stay between the two of us.” 

Dick nodded quickly. 

“Slade was married. His wife and him were happy. They had three children. Grant, Rose and Joey. And then the experiment happened and Slade was a changed man. He made enemies. Enemies that wanted to hurt him in any way possible. They killed Rose and Joey. Grant decided to hunt them down and kill them himself. So they killed him. Adeline hated Slade after that. She’s the one who stabbed his eye out. Then she disappeared. I don’t know what happened to her. She just vanished one day.” 

Dick shook his head in shock. 

“He was left alone.” 

Billy smiled sadly. 

“Yes.” 

Then he seemed to hesitate. 

“He… He does have another child. From a different woman. He found out about him after everything that happened with Adeline and their children. I was really worried about the boy, but then Slade ran into you and the Titans and seemed to get an obsession with you. And, however cruel that sounds, I’m happy that he got obsessed with you and decided to train you. At least this way his son might have gotten a chance at a normal life.” 

Dick, who was shocked by this new revelation, blinked a few times to refocus. 

“His son. Do you know who he is?” 

Billy shook his head. 

“No. I don’t know if even Slade knows.” 

He stood up suddenly. 

“We should go. Slade will get mad at you if we don’t hurry up.” 

Dick followed him with a nod. Billy led him to the basement and paused at the door. 

“Be careful, Dick.” 

Dick nodded. 

“Of course. Thank you, Billy.” 

The old man walked away with heavy steps and Dick entered the training room with worry. Slade was standing in the middle of it with two wooden bo-staffs. 

“Did you find out everything you wanted?” 

Dick’s eyes widened and Slade smirked. 

“Next time you decide to keep a conversation away from me, at least make sure I have left the hallway.” 

He threw one of the staffs towards him and Dick caught it easily. 

“You’re not mad?” 

And, seeing Slade’s raised eyebrow, he added quickly:

“Master.” 

Slade shook his head at him. 

“You’re incorrigible. But no, I’m not mad. Now, get into position.” 

Dick glanced down at the staff. 

“Don’t you think I’m way past training with wooden sticks?” 

Instead of seeing irritation, he saw Slade’s eye fill with amusement. 

“Tell you what. You get me on the ground with that ‘wooden stick’ and I’ll let you move up to something else.” 

Dick nodded with a small smile. The training was what he actually liked about Slade. The man never wanted him to hold back. He was satisfied when Dick managed to get in hits. He took a deep breath to center himself and then attacked. He was still in his Nightwing suit and had all the mobility he needed. This was going to be good. 


	7. Get Up. Try Again.

Dick grunted as he hit the wall. Again. Slade smirked where he was standing. This was the 21st time he had thrown the young man on the ground. And he had barely used the wooden stick he was holding. Dick stayed on the floor, looking up at the ceiling. He was hurting all over and had a cut on his cheek from when he had crashed into a bench. 

“Get up. I told you. We don’t stop until you manage to knock the stick out of my hand.” 

With a deep sigh, Dick stood up again and gripped his own stick tighter. Slade raised his eyebrows at that. 

“You’re not even trying.” 

“I am trying.” 

Slade shook his head at Dick’s outraged voice. 

“No. You’re not. Your attacks are sloppy. You’re distracted by something and I will not accept that. Now try again.” 

Dick attacked, and found himself hitting the wall again. He felt everything around him shift slightly, before he managed to find his bearings again. Doing quick math, he realized that all he had eaten in the last five days was an apple and a sandwich. He had had so much work in Bludhaven and helped Bruce out so much that he hadn’t had time to eat. And now it was catching up to him. 

“Get up. Try again.” 

Slowly, he got up to his feet and attacked. Seconds later, he was on the ground again. Slade sighed. 

“You fought better when you were younger. Now get up and try again.” 

Dick groaned, stood up and almost fell over again. Slade frowned. 

“What’s wrong with you?” 

The young man shook his head and attacked. With almost no effort at all, Slade grabbed his shoulder and pushed him back, making him hit the wall again. 

“What’s wrong?” 

Dick attacked, this time ending up on the ground. 

“Stop it.” 

Another attack, another throw against the wall. By now, Slade looked slightly worried, a look Dick had never seen on him. Still, he kept trying to attack. He didn’t want the man’s worry or attention. He just wanted to beat him, so that he could go back to his room and rest. When he tried attacking one more time, Slade suddenly got out a knife, pushed the young man against the wall and put the knife against his throat. 

“I said, stop it!” 

His raised voice, as well as the blade, made Dick freeze in place. Slade nodded. 

“Good. Now. What is going on with you?” 

Dick shook his head. Slade had no right to look so concerned. But, when the blade pressed a bit harder against his throat, he suddenly snapped. With one quick move, he managed to push the knife to the side and duck out of Slade’s hold. He jumped away from him and started ranting, his breathing coming out hard. 

“You have no right to ask that! What do you think is wrong?! You blackmailed me into coming here with you! You threaten my family! You’re starving and abusing me! You…!” 

He stopped himself and paled. Slade had made one thing clear. If he talked back and went against him, his family would pay. The mercenary sighed heavily.

“Listen to me. I’m going to give you one more chance to tell me what’s going on with you.” 

Dick hesitated, before relaxing his stance. 

“I’m sorry.” 

Slade nodded. 

“Apology accepted. Now talk.” 

The young man shrugged slightly. 

“I haven’t eaten in five days. I guess I just haven’t been on top of my game.” 

Slade nodded again and put his knife back in its sheath. 

“There is a bathroom through that door. Go shower. Billy will have put some clothes out for you. Meet me in the kitchen when you are done.” 

And he marched out of the training room. Dick sighed heavily and leaned against the wall. This was way too confusing. Last time, the rules had been simple. Now, Slade seemed to change them up as he went. With another heavy sigh he went into the bathroom and started undressing. 

*****

Slade walked into the kitchen and flopped down onto one of the chairs. Billy frowned at him. 

“What’s wrong? Where is the boy?” 

“Showering.” 

The one worded response made the man give him a hard stare. 

“Slade.” 

“What? What do you want me to say?” 

“Don’t give me that tone. You know full well that I don’t like what you’re doing to him.” 

Slade sighed and shook his head. 

“I know.” 

Billy pulled out another chair and sat down. 

“Then why are you doing this? After what happened to Grant, Joey and Rose, I would think that you would never want to harm a child.” 

“He’s not a child anymore.” 

“No. But he was. The first time you took him.” 

Slade sat straighter, an angry look on his face. 

“Where are you going with this?”

Billy shrugged. 

“I don’t know. I’m not the one in a bad mood after a training session.” 

He seemed to completely ignore Slade’s anger. The mercenary rolled his eyes and slumped back again. 

“He hasn’t eaten in five days.” 

The old man frowned. 

“So? You have starved him before. Why is it suddenly affecting you that much?” 

Not getting an answer, he stood up and walked over to the stove, starting to prepare a plate of eggs, bacon and toasts. Slade seemed to consider everything for a few minutes, before he spoke up calmly. 

“Billy. Do you know why I’ve always been so interested in Richard? Why I did everything I could to make him stay with me when he was my apprentice? Why I went back for him now?” 

The old man turned to him and shrugged. 

“To prove that you could take Batman’s golden boy and corrupt him?”

Slade shook his head. 

“I don’t care about Batman and what he and others think.” 

“Then why? What is so special about the kid?” 

The mercenary glanced towards the door, listening for any sounds. Not hearing anything, he turned back to Billy. 

“You remember what I was doing when I ran into the Titans the first time?” 

“Looking for your son.” 

Slade nodded. 

“Exactly. And why do you think I stopped looking and got so interested in Robin?” 

“Because you didn’t wa…” 

He stopped and gasped. 

“You didn’t stop looking. You found him.” 

Slade nodded, only to duck when Billy tried smacking his head. 

“Slade Joseph Wilson, how could you do that to your own child?!” 

Before Slade could answer, the door opened and Dick stepped inside. He was dressed in black jeans and a blue t-shirt. 

“Um. Am I interrupting?” 

Billy’s eyes widened. 

“Did you eavesdrop?” 

Slade shook his head. 

“He didn’t.” 

Billy gave him a glare. 

“This talk is not over, Slade.” 

He put two plates on the table and then walked out of the kitchen. Dick looked after him with a stunned look on his face, before shaking his head. 

“Him and Alfred would get along so well.” 

Slade pointed towards the other chair. 

“Sit down and eat. And tell me what’s going on in your head. You’re still distracted, and I don’t think it’s the lack of food.” 

Dick sat down and pulled the plate towards him. He started eating quickly, slowing down first when half of the food was gone. When he looked up at Slade again, the man was looking at him with slight amusement, which disappeared seconds later. 

“Are you going to talk, or do I have to beat it out of you?” 

Dick hesitated for a few seconds, before nodding. 

“It’s Bruce.” 

Slade frowned. 

“I didn’t kill him. And, unless you misbehave, I have no intentions of doing that.” 

This time, Dick shook his head. 

“No. That’s not it. I…” 

He hesitated again. On the other side of the table, Slade waited patiently. 

“When Dami called in for backup, Bruce took so long to get there. It’s like he didn’t care what was happening. That we were in danger.” 

He shook his head again. 

“I shouldn’t even be thinking like that.” 

For almost five minutes, they sat in silence. Then, Slade stood up and pointed towards the sink. 

“When you’ve eaten, wash the dishes. After that, you can explore the house a bit. Just remember. If a door is locked, you don’t try going in. Understood?” 

“Yeah.” 

Without another word, Slade walked out of the kitchen. Dick finished the food quickly and then went over to the sink to wash the dishes. First when he was done with drying them, he realized something that he hadn’t noticed before. Slade hadn’t corrected him when he didn’t call him ‘master’. 


	8. Be Careful, Slade

Dick was making his way around the house, looking into every room that he came across. None of them were locked. He had seen all the bedrooms on the ground floor and made his way to the next floor, when he suddenly heard voices coming towards him. 

“Did they say where he would be?”

“No. Let’s just comb through the house. We’ll start upstairs and work our way down. He must be somewhere here.”

Quickly, Dick ducked into an open bedroom and pulled the door almost closed behind him, leaving just a small crack to be able to hear what was being said. Eight men, dressed in combat gear, walked past the door, heading upstairs. As they were walking up the stairs, Dick heard one of the men give out quick instructions. 

“Just remember. He is dangerous. A bullet to the head, and then we are out. Don’t engage in hand to hand combat because you will lose.” 

Another man snorted. 

“How about this. We’ll be the ones known for killing Deathstroke.” 

Dick’s eyes widened. They were going to kill Slade. Seconds later, he shook his head. There was no way they were going to be able to kill Slade. But then he remembered the way the men were dressed. The weapons they were carrying. Those weren’t simple thugs. They were professionals. They had an actual chance against Slade. Which meant that there was a chance for him to get away. If Slade was dead, he would be free. He could go back to his family. But then he remembered the talk he had had with Slade in the kitchen. Both talks. About their similarities. About Slade’s family. His talk with Billy. Billy had told him that Slade had been looking for his son. He had wanted to find him. And then the training. Before, Slade always pushed him to his limits, and then further. This time, he stopped when Dick started to feel bad. He actually let him eat because he was hungry. He tried to be nice. At least as nice as Deathstroke could be. Making a quick decision, he sneaked out of the room and then stopped in the middle of the hallway. Where was he supposed to go? The training room was in the basement. And the men had said that they would start searching the house from the top. Dick hadn’t heard any fighting from there, which meant that Slade wasn’t up there. With quick steps he headed towards the basement, sneaking down the stairs to make sure that he wasn’t heard. As he got to the bottom and rounded a corner, his throat was grabbed and he was pushed against the wall. His eyes widened and his hands flew up to protect himself, only to fall down again when he realized that it was Slade who grabbed him. The mercenary had a gun pointed at his face and Dick froze. After a second, Slade’s eye filled with anger. 

“What the hell do you think you’re doing, trying to sneak up on me? I could have shot you.” 

Dick flinched slightly at his raised voice, before shaking his head. 

“I didn’t try to sneak up on you. I was looking for you.” 

He glanced up to the ceiling, but didn’t hear anything from there. Slade followed his gaze and, when he spoke up again, his voice was quieter. 

“What is it?” 

“Someone’s in the house.” 

Slade let go of him immediately and moved back a few steps. 

“Who and where?” 

“Eight men. They are carrying heavy weaponry. Ordered to shoot you in the head immediately, because they know they can’t fight you hand to hand.” 

Slade nodded. 

“Smart. Didn’t expect them to find me, but now I have to send them a message.” 

“You know who they are?” 

Dick was looking at him with surprise. He understood that a man like Slade had enemies, but he would have never thought that any of them would be stupid enough to come to Slade’s house. The mercenary nodded again. 

“Yes. The people who created Deathstroke. I know too much for them to just let me go. They have been trying to kill me for several years. Didn’t expect them to come here in the middle of the day though.” 

He checked the ammunition in his gun and then looked up at Dick again. He seemed to consider something, before pulling out another gun and stretching it out to him. With hesitation, Dick grabbed it loosely. 

“Stay here. Anyone other than me or Billy come down, you shoot without question. Understood?” 

The boy’s head snapped up to him. 

“What? No. I can’t…” 

“I’m not telling you to kill them. Just disable them. And don’t get killed.” 

He turned around and started heading upstairs, when Dick took a few steps closer. 

“Wait. I’m coming with you.” 

Slade looked at him with surprise. 

“I’m going to kill them all. Are you sure you want to see that?” 

Dick hesitated. 

“I…” 

“Stay here, kid. Hide somewhere, and don’t come out until I come for you. Shoot anyone who comes down here.” 

“What about Billy?” 

Slade shrugged. 

“He can take care of himself. Don’t worry about that. Now go.” 

Dick was still hesitant about that, but nodded and ran deeper into the basement. He found some old wooden planks in one corner and quickly crouched down behind them. He sat there in silence, thoughts flying through his head. If he was being honest, he didn’t know what to do. He knew that Slade was the best mercenary in the world. He was an expert fighter. There was no way those men would be able to beat him. But he still felt worried. Because what if they did? What if Slade got hurt? He was taken aback by his own thoughts. Was he actually worried about Slade Wilson? Almost five minutes later, he heard steps down the stairs. The person didn’t say anything, but it had to be Billy or Slade. After all, there was no way the soldiers had survived Slade. He stood up and got out from behind the planks. 

“Slade?” 

He was expecting to see the man coming towards him, and was therefore shocked when he saw one of the soldiers, with a gun pointed at him. Dick froze. The soldier tilted his head, clearly surprised at seeing him. He lowered his gun slightly. 

“Who are you?” 

Dick just stared at him. 

“Kid, do you know whose house you’re in?” 

Dick nodded. 

“Are you here against your will?” 

He hesitated, before shrugging. The soldier nodded slowly. 

“Alright. Tell me where Deathstroke is, and I’ll help you get away from here.” 

Dick frowned at him, before remembering that he was still holding the gun Slade had given him. He just looked at the soldier for a few seconds, before tightening his grip on the weapon and raising it to point at the man. The soldier tensed up, before relaxing again and raising his eyebrows. 

“Come on, kid. We both know you won’t do it. You don’t look like the type.” 

Dick just kept the gun pointed at him, not really aiming it anywhere on his body. The soldier shook his head. 

“I don’t know what he is holding over you, but you don’t have to do this. I really don’t want to hurt you. I’m paid to take out Deathstroke. Put the gun down, and I will let you go.” 

Dick took a deep breath, shook his head and steadied the grip he had on the gun. The soldier frowned and lifted his own gun. 

“Put down your weapon. I won’t tell you again.” 

Dick felt worry. Could he really pull the trigger? Sure, he had shot a gun before. Jason had taught him. He didn’t have the same aversion to guns as Bruce. But could he really shoot a human? The soldier must’ve noticed his hesitation, because he smirked. 

“See. You can’t do it.” 

He pointed his gun at Dick’s head, and the boy felt himself tense up. A shot rang out and Dick flinched. But he didn’t feel any pain. The soldier’s eyes had widened, before he dropped down to the ground, a bullet wound in his chest. He started gasping in pain. Dick looked down to the gun he was holding, and realized that he must’ve squeezed the trigger when he had tensed up. He felt dread fill him. What had he done? Granted, it was self defense, but still. He had just shot someone. Seconds later, he heard quick footsteps and Slade appeared at the top of the steps. The man took one quick look at the scene and hurried down the stairs. Without a thought, he pointed his own gun at the soldier’s head and killed him, before slowing down to a stop in front of Dick. Making sure that his movements were as non threatening as he could, he lifted his hand up and stretched it out towards Dick. 

“Give me the gun.” 

Dick looked up at him with big eyes, still in shock. Slade gently put one of his hands on the gun and the other on Dick’s wrist. 

“Kid. Let go of the gun.” 

As soon as Dick’s grip loosened slightly, he pulled the weapon away from him and threw it to the side. He tugged on Dick’s wrist, until the boy was closer to him. And then he did something that Dick did not expect. He pulled him into a hug. The boy tensed up even more, before relaxing and starting to shake. Slade sighed. 

“It’s alright. You did well.” 

“I killed him.” 

Slade shook his head. 

“No. You shot and wounded him. I killed him.” 

They both heard someone running down the steps and, still holding Dick close to himself, Slade turned around and pointed his gun towards the stairs. He sighed heavily when he noticed that it was Billy. 

“I would think that you’d remember not to sneak up on me.” 

Billy ignored him, keeping his eyes on Dick. 

“What happened here?” 

“Later.” 

He looked down at Dick and pushed him away a bit so that the boy could look up at him. 

“Let’s get you to your room.” 

He led him up the stairs, with one arm around his shoulders. Billy looked at them with confusion, before collecting himself and hurrying after them. Slade led the boy through the house, passing the door to his room, and opening another door. It led to a fully furnished room. Dick was still in too much shock to react to it. Slade led him over to the bed and helped him lie down. 

“Close your eyes.” 

Dick followed the command without a thought, still thinking about what he had done in the basement. Slade pulled a small syringe out from his pocket, took the cap off and injected a clear liquid into Dick’s arm. Seconds later, the boy was asleep. Billy looked at the mercenary with an odd look in his eyes. 

“What happened?” 

Slade shook his head, making Billy sigh heavily. 

“Slade.” 

His voice was hard, and the man looked up at him.

“Do you remember the first time I had killed someone?” 

Billy nodded, a horrified look appearing on his face.

“Did he… “

“No. He shot him in the chest. I finished him off. But I think this is the closest he’s ever come to killing someone.” 

Then he stood up and stretched. 

“Come on. He’ll be out for a couple of hours. Let’s get rid of the bodies. He doesn’t need to see them.” 

Billy smirked slightly. 

“Be careful, Slade. Or you’ll start caring.” 

The mercenary just rolled his eye and left the room. 


	9. It's A Gun

Dick woke up with a start, sitting up abruptly. The quick movement made him dizzy and he started taking deep breaths to calm himself. As he looked around the room, the realization of what had happened in the basement hit him. He could have killed that man. It would have been self defense. There was a gun pointed at his head. Immediately, he shook his head. He should have found another way. Bruce would be so disappointed in him. He would never want to talk to him again. Dick had seen all the interactions between Jason and Bruce after the young man had killed someone. They almost always ended violently. He shivered and looked towards the window. And that was when it hit him. He wasn’t in his room. This one had a bed, a desk with a chair, a wardrobe, a big rug, a bookshelf full of books and a big window. Underneath it was a rocking chair recliner. All the furniture was white, the walls and blanket green. The room had a very homey feeling. Slowly, Dick stood up. He was still shaking slightly, but decided to just push through it. He needed to move. He needed to do something. To forget about what had happened. As he got out to the hallway, he noticed a strong smell of cleaning products. For a moment, that confused him. But then he realized. Blood. Slade and Billy had been cleaning off blood. Shaking his head, he looked around again. Slade had led him up the stairs from the basement, but not further. Which meant that he was still on the first floor. With slow steps he started to make his way up the stairs to the second floor. Slade hadn’t forbidden him from exploring more. So he was going to do it. He really needed to stop thinking about what happened in the basement. Almost in a daze, he managed to get to the first door and open it. A bedroom. He closed the door again and went to the next one. Another bedroom. He opened three more doors, before running into the first locked one. He hesitated, before going into the previous room. He grabbed the paper clips that he had seen in there and hurried back to the closed door. It took him under one minute to get the lock open. He glanced down the hallway but, not hearing anything, he pushed the door open and stepped inside. There, he stopped in shock. The room had medals and pictures of soldiers on the walls. In one corner stood a small table with a single picture on it and a few guns. In another corner stood another small table with two armchairs next to it. Against the wall next to one of the armchairs stood a sniper rifle. Ignoring the weapon and the medals, Dick walked over to the picture on the table. He picked it up gently and his eyes widened when he realized who was on it. Billy and Slade were standing next to each other, smiles on their faces. Slade couldn’t be more than 20 in the picture. He had black hair down to his shoulders, a few strands falling into his eyes. It reminded Dick of his own hair, which never could stay out of his face. It could get slightly irritating when he was fighting but, when Alfred had suggested that they should cut it, Dick had protested so loudly that the butler quickly gave up. Slade looked so happy in the picture. Both him and Billy were smiling at the camera, their arms slung around each other’s shoulders. 

“I guessed I would find you here.” 

Slade’s voice made Dick jump slightly and almost drop the picture. In the last second, he tightened his hold on it, preventing it from falling to the floor. As gently as he could, he put it back on the table and turned back to Slade. The mercenary had changed into a pair of black combat pants and a black long sleeved shirt. 

“I…” 

For once in his life, Dick didn’t know what to say. Slade looked at him for a long moment, before a smirk appeared on his face. 

“You’re too curious for your own good.” 

He walked over to stand more in the room. 

“These are all mine. From before Deathstroke.” 

He waved his hand towards the medals. Dick frowned at him. 

“You’re not mad.” 

It wasn’t a question, but Slade still shook his head. 

“No. I’m not mad. I knew that you would find your way in here sooner or later. Sit down. I’m not sure if the drug has left your system fully yet, and I don’t want you falling over and knocking yourself out.” 

He pointed towards the armchairs. Very slowly, Dick walked over to one of them and sat down. Slade sat down in the other one and raised his eyebrows when he noticed the way Dick was eyeing the sniper rifle. 

“You like this one?” 

Dick quickly looked away from it. 

“I… I don’t know?” 

Slade frowned. 

“You don’t know?” 

The boy leaned back into the seat with a sigh. 

“It’s a gun.” 

Slade shook his head. 

“Is this about Batman? His rules?” 

Very slowly, Dick nodded. 

“And why are guns worse than any of the weapons you use?” 

“They are guns. Guns are forbidden. He’s always furious when Jay uses them.” 

Slade tilted his head. 

“Let me ask you something. What voltage do your escrima sticks carry? At the most powerful point.” 

Dick looked at him with surprise. 

“Around 50000.” 

“Pure electricity?” 

Dick nodded. 

“See? The voltage for the death penalty is around 2000 volts. If you were to shock someone with your sticks, you would kill your opponent. How is that better than a gun?”

“I…” 

The boy shrugged and pulled his feet up onto the armchair, putting his arms around his legs and curling up. 

“I don’t know.” 

Slade smiled, but the look in his eye was serious. 

“A gun is a weapon like any other. What matters is what you do with it. If you go around shooting wildly, even I will think it’s wrong.” 

Dick glanced at the rifle again. Seeing it, Slade picked it up and put it on the table that was between them. 

“Do you know what this is?” 

Dick shrugged. 

“A gun.” 

Slade rolled his eye. 

“Yeah. It is. But what kind?” 

The boy tilted his head, before shrugging again. 

“I don’t know.” 

“It’s an AWM. Arctic Warfare Magnum. Manufactured by Accuracy International.” 

Very slowly, Dick leaned closer, still keeping himself curled up. 

“It’s a sniper rifle, right?” 

Slade nodded. 

“Yes. Do you know what this means?” 

He pointed at a bolt on the rifle. Dick shook his head. 

“It’s a bolt-action sniper rifle.” 

With quick movements, he pulled the bolt back and pulled out a bullet from the gun. 

“Know what kind of bullet this is?” 

Dick shook his head again, his body relaxing slightly. 

“.300 Winchester Magnum.” 

“How far can it shoot?” 

Slade looked at him with slight surprise, almost as if he hadn’t expected Dick to start asking questions. 

“That depends how good of a shot you are. But usually it’s around 1100 meters.” 

He picked the gun up and started taking it apart, naming all the parts and then putting it together again. Making sure to keep his movements slow, he stretched the weapon over to Dick. 

“Your turn.” 

The boy looked at him with big eyes. He hesitated for almost two minutes, Slade just sitting and waiting calmly. In the end, he grabbed the rifle and slowly started taking it apart. Seeing Slade’s raised eyebrows, he named all the parts, faltering at some of them. The mercenary corrected him only two times, a smile on his face. When the gun was put together again, he put it on the table. Slade nodded. 

“Good job, kid.” 

He leaned back in his seat, his posture relaxed. 

“Alright. Now listen to me.” 

His voice was serious, and Dick felt himself tensing up slightly. 

“There is a shooting range behind the house. If you want to, we can go there and you can try this out. But only if you want to. I might have rules for you while you’re here, but this is something I won’t force you to do.” 

Then he stood up. 

“Think about it. You can stay in here. I’ll be in the kitchen.” 

And he marched out of the room, closing the door behind him. Dick curled up again, hugging his knees close to his chest. He had always been calmed by this position and, with his acrobatic background, he could stay curled up tightly without putting any real strain on any part of his body. His eyes were glued to the gun. He had always been fascinated by guns. His dad and the security at Haly’s had sometimes told him about them, but his mom had always protested when she found out. So he had stopped asking. And then Bruce. The man had been a good guardian, although he had been extremely clueless in the beginning. Dick had never seen him mad. Never heard him raise his voice. Until that day. He had asked a few questions too much. Told Bruce about his fascination with guns. That maybe Bruce could show him how to shoot one. And the man had flown into some kind of rage. Dick couldn’t sit for a week and, if it wasn’t for Alfred, would have been locked in his room without food. Bruce had apologized, most probably because of the argument with Alfred that Dick had overheard, but things didn’t go back to how they had been. Bruce had started watching him more and more. Almost as if he was worried that he would snap. So Dick made sure to never bring it up again. When he became Robin, his fascination turned to annoyance. Every time someone with a gun showed up, Bruce would send him back to the cave. He was overreacting but, the one time Dick had pointed it out, Bruce had almost put him over his knee again. Only Alfred’s sudden arrival had stopped him. Dick had been forbidden from going out on patrol for two weeks. It continued like that. Bruce watched him, Dick kept his mouth shut. And then Jason came back. And the rules seemed to change. Bruce clearly wanted to make things up with Jason. But there was a problem. He couldn’t have Jason, without having the guns as well. The arguments during that time had gotten violent on almost every occasion. But, unlike Dick when he was a child, Jason could hold his own. Unlike Dick, Jason always talked back. Jason took a punch and then punched back twice as hard. And that was the reason why Dick had agreed to letting Jason teach him how to shoot. Because Jason wasn’t Bruce. Because Jason could stand up to Bruce. He glanced at the picture of a young Slade, before making a quick decision. He stood up, grabbed the rifle and walked down the stairs. The door to the kitchen was open, and he could hear Billy and Slade talking about someone who he had never heard about. Ignoring that, he walked inside, the conversation stopping immediately. Slade tilted his head. 

“Yes?” 

“I wanna try.” 

Slade shot Billy a look, before standing up. 

“Come with me. Let’s see what you can do.” 


	10. Don't Wanna Go

Slade led him up to the roof of the house, and Dick was shocked to see that they were on the outskirts of Gotham. There were no houses as far as he could see, and he almost smiled. Of course Slade would choose a house as far away from other people as possible. The mercenary grabbed the gun from him and set it up on the roof. 

“Come on. Lie down.” 

Dick did so, putting his hand on the rifle. Slade sat down on the roof next to him and pointed straight out to the big field behind the house. 

“There is a target at the end of the field. Straight out and a bit to the right. Can you see it?” 

Dick moved a bit closer to the scope and looked out through it. He moved the rifle a bit, until he saw the target. 

“Yeah. I see it.” 

“Good. Now, take aim and, when you’re ready, pull the trigger. Remember to stay calm. Don’t hurry it up. You have time. If this was a real life situation, you would have time as well. That’s the nice part about being a sniper. You’re relatively safe. No one expects you to be there, so they don’t try to hide. You have time to calm yourself down and take good aim. Do you understand me?” 

Dick nodded, still keeping his eye on the target. He put his finger on the trigger, and just stayed like that, breathing slowly. Fifteen seconds later, he pulled the trigger. The loud bang made him tense up slightly, before he relaxed again and put his cheek against the gun.

“Pull the bolt back to eject the cartridge case. Then push it forward again to load the next one. You have five rounds in the rifle.”

Dick did as he was told, the cartridge case landing on the ground next to him. A few deep breaths later, he looked out through the scope again. He waited a few seconds, before pulling the trigger again. This time, he barely reacted to the bang or the recoil. Automatically, he ejected the spent cartridge and looked out again. Slade smiled when he noticed how calm the boy was. But then, just as Dick fired his third shot, he noticed something to their left. He glanced over there, making sure that the boy didn’t see him doing that. A yellow blur was moving to the left of the house. It took him a few seconds, in which Dick fired his fourth shot, to realize what it was. The speedster that Dick had been so close with. Did that mean that the others were there as well? No. They couldn’t be. Batman would have appeared first, not sent in a speedster. He waited until Dick had fired the last shot, before nodding. 

“Good job. I’ll have Billy go get the results from the target. I have to go do something. Take the rifle back to the kitchen and wait for me there. I’ll show you how to clean it.” 

Dick frowned at him. 

“What?” 

“You like it. I don’t use it. As long as you don’t start shooting me or Billy, you can keep it. Which means that you need to know how to take care of it.” 

He stood up. 

“But, before that, I think there is someone here who wants to see you.” 

Dick’s frown deepened, so he pointed to where the yellow blur was still going back and forth. The boy paled considerably, fear appearing on his face. 

“Don’t hurt him. Please. Don’t hurt him.” 

Slade shook his head. 

“Don’t worry. From what I see, he’s here alone. And I remember how close you two were back when you were younger. It was stupid of me to not realize he would come here to see you. Although I would like to know how he found us.” 

Dick, having relaxed slightly, smirked. 

“Knowing Wally, he most probably kept checking all the houses in Gotham until he found the right one.” 

Slade nodded. 

“As I said, I think he wants to see you. You can be in the garden in front of the house, or on the field behind. But don’t leave the property. Do you understand?” 

Dick nodded quickly, before waving his hands in the air in a particular pattern. Not even a second later, Wally was standing on the roof, glaring at Slade. He was in civilian clothes, clearly not caring about secret identities. Or maybe he just knew that Slade was aware of most of the heroes and vigilantes identities. Slade looked him up and down, before nodding and walking back inside the house. Wally seemed surprised by that, but just seconds later he was next to Dick with concern on his face. 

“Dick? You alright? Did he hurt you? What are you doing with a gun?” 

Dick put his hands in the air. 

“Whoa. Calm down, dude. One question at the time. And preferably at a speed that I can understand.”

Wally took a deep breath and shot him an apologetic look. 

“Sorry. You alright?” 

“Yeah. Exceptionally good considering where I am and who I am with. But how did you… Jason?” 

Wally nodded. 

“Yeah. He called me and explained what happened. It seems like there is a split in the cave right now. Bruce and Tim are working together on their front. Jason and Damian decided to contact me.” 

“Smart. How are they?” 

The speedster shrugged. 

“Good, I think. Damian seems slightly distressed, but trying to hide it. He really is Bat’s son. Jason is stressed out and angry. But both are alive and well.” 

Then he looked down at the gun. Dick followed his gaze and sighed. 

“Go on.” 

“Go on what?” 

“Go on and tell me that this is wrong.” 

Wally tilted his head with a frown. 

“Do you think it is?” 

Dick looked at him with surprise. 

“Come on, Dick. It’s not like you’re hurting anyone. Guns aren’t evil, whatever the Bat might say.” 

They looked at each other for a few seconds, before Dick finally smiled. 

“Man, I’ve missed you.” 

“Of course you did. Now. How are you holding up? He seems different than the last time.” 

Dick nodded.

“He is. And it’s strange. He…” 

He hesitated, before nodding again. 

“Come on. There is something I want you to see.” 

He grabbed the rifle, the cartridge cases and started walking towards the opening to the house. Wally followed him with cautious steps. 

“Are you sure this is a good idea?” 

Dick grinned at him. 

“I sneaked you into the Batcave, Walls. I think I can sneak you around Slade’s house.” 

They walked inside and Dick led him to the room with the medals. To his surprise, it was still unlocked. He pushed the door open and motioned Wally inside, before closing the door behind them. The speedster looked around with wide eyes. 

“What the…?” 

“These are Slade’s. From before Deathstroke.” 

Wally was going to say something, when he noticed the photo on the table. His eyes widened slightly and he sped over to it. Dick frowned. 

“What is it?” 

“I… Nothing. It’s nothing.” 

His hands became a blur for a second, before going back to normal. He turned back to Dick and raised his eyebrows. 

“I should go.” 

Dick looked at him with surprise. 

“What?” 

“Jason and Damian will wake up soon. And they will be pissed.” 

Blue eyes filled with suspicion. 

“What did you do?” 

Wally shrugged. 

“I needed to find you, without them interfering. So I gave them sedatives to keep them asleep until I was back. But I think they might be waking up soon. I’m guessing there is no way to convince you to come with me?” 

Dick shook his head. 

“No. I have to stay, or he’ll go after Damian. And…” 

He hesitated. On the other side of the room, Wally waited patiently. 

“I don’t think I wanna go. Not yet. This is different than the last time.” 

“You don’t wanna go?” 

“Slade is not that bad. And there is something odd about him right now. I wanna figure out what that is.” 

Wally nodded. 

“Alright. I’ll keep an eye on Jason and Damian for you.” 

He sped over to the door and then stopped. 

“Be careful, Dick.” 

Dick grinned at him. 

“Never.” 

With a headshake, Wally sped away. Dick looked around the room one last time, before walking out and heading towards the kitchen. 

*****

Slade walked inside the kitchen and frowned when he saw Billy sitting with an odd look on his face. On the table in front of him was the paper from the target. 

“What is it? Did it go that bad?” 

He walked over to the sink to fill a glass with water, but stopped when Billy didn’t answer. 

“Billy?” 

The old man looked up at him and pointed at the paper. Slade walked over to the table and looked down at it. There were two holes. One was a bit high, the other perfectly in the middle. He shrugged. 

“What’s wrong with this? It’s only natural that he missed three of the shots. I’m surprised that he managed to hit the middle, but it could be beginners luck.” 

Billy shook his head, finally finding his voice. 

“Slade. I checked the wall behind to see where his bullets hit. Four of them went through the same hole. The middle one.” 

Slade almost dropped his empty glass, putting it on the table in the last second. 

“Are you sure?” 

Billy nodded. 

“I double and triple checked.” 

The mercenary sat down on one of the chairs and took a deep breath, a thoughtful expression appearing on his face. 

“The high shot must’ve been the first one. He didn’t seem to be really expecting the sound or the recoil. But after that he seemed very calm and collected.” 

He looked down at the paper again. 

“Is it possible that he is this good, because of my genes. Because of the experiments?” 

Billy nodded slowly. 

“It is a possibility. The shot in the basement was particularly good for someone who doesn’t use guns. If you hadn’t killed that soldier, he would have died eventually. Dick shot through his lung. He was choking on his own blood. I thought that it was just a lucky shot. Adrenaline. Survival instinct. Any of these. But this?” 

He pointed at the paper again. 

“Far as I know, only you and Lawton are capable of this. And, if I’m being honest, it took you time to learn it. I have never seen Queen shoot a gun, but he might be able to pull this off.” 

Slade seemed to think very hard about something, before nodding. 

“Alright. We’ll see where this will lead us. For now, set up a few targets behind the field and on it. Different sizes, different distances. Make some of them moving. After dinner, I’ll take him up on the roof again, and we’ll see if it’s really because of the experiments, or if he just got lucky.” 

*****

Roy was sitting in his flat, watching tv, when his door suddenly burst open. Within seconds he was on his feet, an arrow nocked on the string of his bow. His eyes widened when he noticed who it was. 

“For fucks sake, Wally! I could have shot you!” 

He was going to say something more, but stopped when he noticed Wally’s expression. Immediately, he lowered his bow and put it on the table. 

“What’s wrong? Are you hurt? Is Dick alright?” 

That made Wally frown. 

“How do you know something is wrong with Dick?” 

Roy rolled his eyes. 

“Because, whenever you look like you’ve seen a ghost, it means you and Dick did something that got either of you hurt, and you want me to patch you up or fix your mess. So what is it this time? Where is Dick?” 

Wally sped over to the couch and sat down. 

“He’s with Deathstroke.” 

Roy’s eyes widened again, this time in terror. 

“He’s what?!” 

“It’s not… Slade broke into the batcave and gave Dick an ultimatum. Either Dick goes with him, or he will take Damian.” 

Roy nodded, sitting down on the table. 

“So Dick went with him. Alright. Do you know where they are?” 

“Yeah. But… Roy, he doesn’t want to leave. He said that there is something odd about Slade.” 

“Odd?” 

Wally tilted his head. 

“You’re taking this exceptionally well.” 

The archer shrugged. 

“I’ve seen and heard almost everything when it comes to you and Dick. And I trust Dick. If he’s saying that he wants to stay, and he’s not having a gun pointed at his head when he’s saying that, I’m going to trust him.” 

“Slade is teaching him how to shoot.” 

Roy shrugged again. 

“Slade is a mercenary. Dick is obsessed with guns. It was bound to happen. But why are you here? You wouldn’t have broken down my door if this was all you had to say.” 

Without a word, Wally pulled out his phone, as well as two photographs. He unlocked the phone and pulled up a picture. 

“This is a picture of Slade when he was younger. I took a picture of it when I was at his house.” 

He put the phone on the table and put one of the photographs next to it. On it was a beautiful woman, with long black hair and tan skin. Her dark brown eyes were looking into the camera with love and happiness. 

“This is a picture of Dick’s mother.” 

Roy nodded. He had seen that picture before. It was clear that Dick had gotten his tan skin and perfect hair from his mother. Wally glanced up at him and then put the last photograph down below the others. 

“This is the most recent picture of Dick I could find.” 

He waved his hand over the three pictures. 

“Can you see it?” 

Roy looked from picture to picture with a frown, before suddenly gasping. When he looked up at Wally, his eyes were full of shock. 

“You’ve got to be shitting me.” 


	11. He Knows

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> This chapter is dedicated to crazybunnyfangirl who asked if I would write a flashback of Jay teaching Dick how to shoot.   
You ask I deliver.   
I hope you will enjoy this and thank you for reading.

Slade was in the kitchen when Dick walked in. Billy was nowhere in sight, and he wondered where the old man had gone. He liked and respected William Wintergreen. Any man who could survive this long with Slade was a man to be reckoned with. Especially since Billy never took shit from Slade and always spoke his mind. Seeing him look around, Slade smiled slightly. 

“Billy is outside. He’s setting up a shooting test for you.” 

Dick frowned. 

“What? Why?” 

Slade pushed the target paper towards him. Dick looked at it with slight surprise. 

“I put all four through the middle?” 

Slade frowned at him. 

“How do you know?” 

Dick sat down heavily on the chair. 

“Because it happened once before.” 

*****

_ Dick looked around, worry clear on his face.  _

_ “Are you sure about this?”  _

_ Jason grinned at him.  _

_ “Come on, Dickie-bird. This will be fun. And B doesn’t have to find out.”  _

_ He pointed towards the table where the guns were. Hesitantly, Dick lifted one of them. Seeing his hesitance, Jason rolled his eyes.  _

_ “Don’t worry, Dick. B won’t find out. This is just for fun. We’re not hurting anyone. Alright?”  _

_ He waited until Dick nodded, before pointing at the targets.  _

_ “Alright. I have the one on the left, you take the one on the right. Five shots each. Once you are done, put the gun on the table and stay there. I don’t need you running out to see how it went and accidentally getting shot.”  _

_ Dick nodded again and lifted his gun, pointing it at the target. He took a calming breath and pulled the trigger. The gun jumped in his hand and he flinched slightly. He noticed Jason glancing at him with worry, but his brother didn’t say anything. Taking another calming breath, he concentrated on the target and shot again. Four shots later, he put the gun on the table and looked over to Jason. His brother was already done.  _

_ “Alright. Let’s see how you did.”  _

_ Together they walked over to the targets. Jason had three in the middle, one high to the right and one a bit under the middle. But, when they looked at Dick’s target, they both stopped in shock. There was one hole a bit high to the right, and four in the middle. Jason looked at him with eyes wide open.  _

_ “How the fuck did you do that?”  _

_ Dick shook his head.  _

_ “I have no idea. Beginner's luck?”  _

_ Jason frowned at him.  _

_ “Maybe. Let’s go another round.”  _

_ As they were walking back to the table, Dick’s phone suddenly started ringing. He pulled it out and looked at the screen.  _

_ “It’s Damian.”  _

_ Jason rolled his eyes.  _

_ “What does the Hell Spawn want now?”  _

_ Dick gave him a hard glare.  _

_ “You could try to get along with him. He’s a nice kid.”  _

_ Then he answered the call.  _

_ ***** _

“Damian needed my help with homework, so I went back to the mansion. Me and Jay didn’t get another chance to go out shooting, since B did somehow find out.” 

Slade frowned. 

“And what did he do when he found out?” 

Dick tensed up slightly, something that didn’t go unnoticed by Slade. The mercenary looked at him with almost worry. 

“Richard. What did he do?”

“He yelled at me and Jason. Jay yelled back, before rushing out. He didn’t come back for two weeks. After Jay left, Bruce kept yelling at me, before he benched me for a month.” 

Slade’s eye filled with sudden anger. 

“He yelled at you for shooting a gun with your brother?” 

Dick shrugged. 

“B isn’t fond of guns. He’s always been mad at me when I even talked about them. One time, he made sure I couldn’t sit for days after I asked a few questions about guns. And he’s always arguing with Jay about them. Although Jay doesn’t take any shit from him. Just argues back and then storms out. And one time, Dami picked up one of Jay’s guns. I’m sure Bruce would have actually put him over his knee if I hadn’t stepped in.” 

By now, Slade was visibly furious. 

“Go to your room.” 

Dick froze. 

“I… Did I say something wrong? I’m sorry. I didn’t mean to…” 

Slade slammed his hand on the table with enough force to make a glass fall off and shatter. Dick jumped in his chair. 

“Leave the gun and go to your room. And don’t leave it until I tell you to.” 

The boy looked at him with slight fear. 

“Slade, I…” 

“Go to your room or I’ll drag you there!” 

His voice, which had been quiet up till now, rose to an angry shout. Immediately, Dick flew out of his seat and ran out of the kitchen. He hurried to the hallway, and stopped. Slade had called two rooms in the house ‘his room’. The nice one, with the window and the bed, and the room he had been put in when he arrived. Not wanting to piss Slade off even more, and not really knowing what he had done wrong, he steered his steps towards the other room. He got inside and sighed. It had all been too good to be true. Slade understanding him, being nice. Of course it wasn’t going to last. Nothing good ever lasted in his life. He sat down on the rug in the corner and curled up, rocking back and forth. After a few seconds, tears appeared in his eyes. He wiped them away angrily, but more just kept falling. After a few seconds, he stopped trying to wipe them away and just sat there. Crying and rocking back and forth in the corner of the dark room.

*****

Slade made quick work of putting on his suit and then marched outside, just as Billy came into the back yard. The old man frowned at him. 

“What’s going on? Did you get a contract?” 

Slade glared at him, while fastening his swords to his back. Billy gave him an unimpressed look. 

“You know damn well that you can’t intimidate me with that glare. Now, what’s going on? Where is Dick?” 

When Slade spoke up, his voice was full of anger and hate. 

“The kid told me something interesting. Every time he would mention a gun around the Bat, he was either hurt or yelled at. Todd always gets in arguments with the Bat about guns. The youngest was almost hit when he picked up a gun. It seems that the Bat has a deep hate for guns. And yet I recall one shootout that I witnessed in Gotham, where Batman and Red Robin were present. At one point, Red Robin picked up one of the cops’ guns and shot back at the gang that was shooting at them. And I remember the Bat standing next to him, praising him for his aim.” 

Billy, who had paled considerably when he heard that Dick had been abused, now got a confused look on his face. 

“How does that add up?” 

Slade pulled on his mask and checked his gun. 

“There is only one explanation. Batman knows what Todd is capable of. Hell, I know what he is capable of. I’ve seen him take out entire gangs in one night, simply because they wouldn’t obey his rules. The youngest, Damian, is al Ghul’s grandson. Batman could be worried about him going bad if he starts using guns. Drake is the good kid. The one who follows the bat’s rules. Has no connections to the villains. So the Bat is alright with him using guns.” 

Billy frowned. 

“That makes sense. But why would he treat Dick like that. Unless…” 

He stopped, his eyes widening. Slade nodded. 

“He knows that Dick is my son. And, by the sound of it he’s always known. Who knows if that isn’t the reason why he took him in after the Graysons died.” 

The old man looked at him with suspicion and worry. 

“Slade. Where are you going?” 

“I sent an invite out to the Bat. I want to speak to him. Dick is in his room. I felt that my control was slipping and I didn’t want to hurt him, so I sent him there.” 

Billy shook his head. 

“Wait a damn minute, Slade! You can’t go there. I know you have ways to beat the Bat, but that man has contingency plans for everyone. He most probably has a way to beat you as well.” 

Slade shrugged. 

“It takes more than a man dressed as a bat to kill me, Bill. You know that.” 

And he marched past him, heading to where his motorbike was standing. Billy looked after him for a few seconds, knowing that there was nothing he could do to stop him. With a sigh, he walked into the house and headed straight to the boy’s room. He opened the door and frowned when he didn’t see anyone. Slade said he had sent Dick to his room. His heart sunk suddenly when he realized what must have happened. If Slade was angry, he wouldn’t have explained anything to the boy. Just ordered him to leave. Which meant that Dick most probably thought he had done something wrong. With heavy steps, he walked to the room Dick had been placed in when he first arrived. He opened the door, and stopped in shock. Dick was curled up in a corner, his entire body shaking, rocking back and forth. Heavy sobs were echoing through the room. 

“Damn it, Slade.” 

With slow steps, he walked into the room and sat down on the ground next to Dick. The boy looked up at him and asked in a quiet voice:

“What did I do wrong?” 


	12. Can We Talk?

For a few seconds, Billy didn’t know what to say. Then he moved closer to the boy and put a hand on his shoulder. 

“Dick. Listen to me. You did nothing wrong. Slade sent you away, because he got angry, and he didn’t want to lose control and hurt you. He was not angry at you. He was angry at Wayne, because of what happened to you.” 

Dick frowned up at him. 

“What?” 

“Can we talk?” 

The boy nodded at him. Billy made himself more comfortable on the rug and leaned against the wall. 

“When Wayne trained you, did he ever train you to withstand brainwashing? Or mental manipulation?” 

Dick nodded slowly. He had stopped crying, and Billy took that as a small victory. 

“Yeah. He did. That’s part of the basic training for every Robin. Why? Do you think that Slade has been…” 

“No.” 

Billy cut him off quickly. 

“No. Not Slade. Wayne.” 

Dick’s eyes widened and he started shaking his head furiously. 

“No. Bruce wouldn’t. He wouldn’t.” 

“Just like he wouldn’t hit you?” 

Billy kept his voice calm, having learned from Slade that a calm approach was the best option. 

“He…” 

Dick hesitated. 

“See. Dick have you ever heard about Stockholm Syndrome?” 

The boy nodded, still hesitant. 

“When you were here the first time, you gave into Slade’s demands way too quickly for someone who is trained to withstand brainwashing.” 

“I was tortured!” 

This time, it was Billy’s turn to be surprised. 

“What?” 

“Slade tortured me.” 

The old man looked at him with so much shock in his eyes, that Dick felt slightly unnerved. 

“Billy?” 

Billy shook his head. 

“Dickie. Slade never tortured you. The only times you got hurt, were when you trained and when you attacked him and he was stopping you. He never made a move to hurt you first. He used the probes, and now the threat to kill your family, because he knew that he had to go to extreme lengths to get you to agree to come with him. And sure, you weren’t happy about being here, but you were never tortured.” 

Dick leaned heavily against the wall, his eyes closing. 

“I don’t understand.” 

Billy frowned. This didn’t add up. Even if his theory about Dick having some kind of Stockholm Syndrome from the Bat, that then transferred to his situation with Slade, was true, it wouldn’t make sense for him to remember things that didn’t happen. Unless… A terrible thought appeared in his mind. But surely, Batman wouldn’t go that far. 

“Dick?” 

The boy made a sound to show that he was listening. 

“After the time you were Slade’s apprentice, who was the first person you told about what happened?” 

“Bruce. He didn’t even let me see my team. He just took me back to Gotham, sat me down and made me tell him everything. First after that, did he let me go see the Titans. I didn’t tell them much. Didn’t want them to get too worried. After a few weeks, it got too hard to keep it all in, and I went to talk to Roy and Wally. Then I stopped talking about it again, until Jason came back from the dead. I didn’t want to tell him. He is my little brother. I’m supposed to be strong and not unload my problems on him. But then he told me that nothing I say will scar him more than what Joker did. So I told him everything.” 

Billy nodded. 

“Alright. And what do you remember about the time you told Batman about what happened? What do you remember about that day?” 

Dick frowned, his eyes still closed. 

“I… Bruce took me to an abandoned warehouse. He said that he didn’t want Alfred to have to hear what happened to me, and that was the reason why he didn’t take me back to the cave. I sat on an old chair, and Bruce was standing up. I told him everything that happened and, after that, he took me back to the mansion.” 

“And you don’t remember anyone else being there when you told Bruce?” 

“No. Just me and Bruce.” 

He opened his eyes. 

“Why? What are you thinking?” 

Billy shook his head slightly. It started to make sense. He hoped he was wrong, for the boy’s sake. 

“Dick. Do you know any powerful telepaths that you trust?” 

Dick frowned slightly. 

“I… Yeah. Raven.”

“Is there any way to get her here?” 

Dick leaned forward a bit. 

“What are you thinking about, Billy?” 

“Just trust me on this, alright?”

Dick hesitated, before nodding. He shifted his sitting stance into a meditative one and closed his eyes again. His mouth started moving, but no sound came out. Billy sat completely still, not wanting to break the boy’s concentration. Almost three minutes later, a black portal appeared and Raven stepped through it. She looked around, her gaze stopping for a few seconds on Billy, before moving on to Dick. She frowned. 

“Dick? Is everything alright?” 

He opened his eyes and stood up. 

“I honestly don’t know. But thank you for coming.” 

He turned to Billy. Very slowly, the man stood up and smiled at Raven. She glared at him. 

“Isn’t that Slade’s friend?” 

Dick put his hand on her shoulder. 

“Just hear him out, okay?” 

She nodded slowly. Billy took a deep breath. 

“I would like you to go into Dick’s mind, and see if there is something wrong with the memory of when he told Batman about what happened when he was Slade’s apprentice.” 

Raven frowned again, quickly turning to Dick. He just shrugged at her. 

“Just go ahead.” 

He sat down on the carpet again, Raven sitting down across from him. With slow movements, she put her fingers to his temples and closed her eyes. Dick’s eyes rolled back into his head and he swayed slightly. Billy watched them in silence until, a few minutes later, Raven pulled away from Dick and the boy fell backwards. As quickly as he could, Billy grabbed him and looked at his face with worry. Raven was breathing heavily, shock clear on her face. After a few seconds, Dick opened his eyes and pulled away from Billy. He reached out and grabbed Raven’s hands. 

“Rae?” 

She looked at him, her voice both worried and shocked when she spoke. 

“Your memories from that day were altered. As well as all the memories from your time with Slade. Those were heavily changed. You were made to believe that Slade abused you. Tortured you. Some things were true. The probes, the training. But the torture? It never happened.” 

Dick paled considerably. 

“Who?” 

Raven hesitated for a few seconds, but started talking when she noticed the look Dick was giving her. 

“Psimon. Bruce asked Psimon to do it. I can’t find out more, without delving deeper into it. And that could bring you extreme pain. The same if I tried to reverse the process and give you your real memories back. The easiest way would be to have Psimon reverse it himself.” 

Her hand went up to her ear for a moment, before an apologetic look appeared on her face. 

“I’m sorry, but I have to go. Me and Starfire are on a mission and I have to go back. Just contact me if you need any more help. We’ll try to wrap it up as soon as possible and get back to earth. Alright?” 

Dick nodded, still in shock, and gave her a quick hug. She smiled at him, before stepping through a portal again and disappearing. Dick turned to Billy, betrayal and sadness clear in his eyes. 

“Why would he do that to me?” 

Then he flew up to his feet. 

“I need to talk to Slade.” 

Billy stood up as well, quickly grabbing the boy’s shoulder. 

“Dick, wait. Slade isn’t here. He went to confront Batman.” 

Dick paled. 

“What? No. He can’t.” 

Billy shrugged. 

“As Slade himself said, it takes more than a man dressed as a bat to kill him.” 

To his surprise, the boy shook his head again. 

“No. You don’t get it. Bruce has these darts. Him and Tim made them, after Joker managed to enhance some of his henchmen. They suppress enhancements. Stop meta abilities. Make you lose your energy. I know Slade is a great fighter, but he’ll be too weak to even move. And if Bruce did this to ME, what is he prepared to do to Slade?” 

He looked around. 

“Where is my suit?” 

“Down in the changing room. Wait. What are you planning?” 

Dick turned him, a determined look on his face. 

“If Bruce is the bad guy here, I might be your only chance to stop him. Well, except for Cass, but I don’t want to get her involved. Not when she could get hurt. Not when I don’t know what Bruce will do.” 

And with that he marched out of the room. Billy looked after him, shaking his head. The kid was just like Slade, even if he himself didn’t see it. 


	13. Let Us Go

Slade entered the empty warehouse with caution. Sure, he wasn’t scared of the Bat. But that didn’t mean he would underestimate him. Especially if he brought along the three boys. Slade wasn’t worried about Drake and al Ghul. No, they were just minor annoyances. The one he was worried about was Todd. He had seen what the young man could do. And that was when he was sane. He didn’t want to see what could happen if Todd snapped and gave into the madness that the Pit installed in him. He was sure he could beat him. Anyone could be beaten. Anyone could be killed. But he didn’t have time for that. As he got to the back of the warehouse, he felt a frown forming on his face. Why wasn’t Batman here yet? Had the man actually decided to not take the invitation? Was it possible that Wayne had given up on Dick? He spun around when he heard steps approaching him. Batman stopped in the middle of the warehouse. Flanking him were Robin and Red Hood. Jason had pulled his helmet off and was glaring at Slade. The mercenary felt slight confusion about why Red Robin wasn’t with them, but decided to not dwell on it. 

“Where is Dick?” 

Slade smirked under the mask. It was funny that the drug lord and the little assassin were more worried than the man who claimed to be Dick’s adopted father. 

“He’s safe.” 

Then he turned his face to Wayne, whose expression didn’t even twitch. 

“We have some things to talk about.” 

Very slowly, Wayne nodded. 

“We do. But first, there is something that needs to be done.” 

Before Slade could ask what he was talking about, he heard a swishing sound. He didn’t even have time to rect, before a dart hit him in his shoulder. He almost gasped when he felt it actually stick into him. His suit was able to withstand bullets. Quickly, he pulled it out and looked at the tip. It looked like simple metal, but he wouldn’t be too surprised if the Bat had something that could pierce through armour. Before he could ask what the hell that was, he felt sudden dizziness and his strength leaving him. His eye widened. They had blocked his powers. And not only that. It seemed that they were draining him of his energy as well. A sudden, terrible, thought hit him. Dick and Billy were alone in the house. And Batman had proved before that he wasn’t afraid to hurt Dick to keep him in line. Without Slade there to protect him, the boy would be forced back to the cave. Back to Wayne. Which meant that Slade needed to get out. Without a word, he pulled his gun out and shot at their feet, making sure to not hit the boy. A few bullets hit the Bat, but his suit protected him. The sudden firing was enough to give Slade time to turn around and hurry towards the door to the office building that was connecting the warehouse they were in with the next one. If he could just get there, he could drive away. As he was hurrying through the door, he heard a person drop down near the others and Red Robin’s voice.

“Should we follow him?” 

Batman’s answer worried him. 

“No. He’ll be down before he reaches the other building. We’ll get him there.” 

He wanted to curse himself. He should have been more mindful of his environment. He should have been more concerned about where Red Robin was. He should have listened to Billy and not tried to take on Batman and his gang without any sort of backup. He was halfway through the office building, when he felt his energy finally run out completely and he fell down to the ground. He couldn't stand up. Thinking quickly, he pulled himself into the nearest office, hid behind a desk and pulled out his guns again. If they thought that he would go down without a fight, then they were misinformed or delusional. He waited in silence, letting his entire body rest against the desk and keeping his hands on his knees. He didn’t want to use up any more energy than he had to. Suddenly, he heard hurried steps approaching. He took a deep breath. This was it. He wondered who it would be. He had no qualms about killing the Bat or Red Robin. But he wasn’t sure if he could kill the kid. Dick would hate him if he did. And he didn’t actually want to kill Todd. From what he understood, the drug lord was the one who seemed most understanding when it came to Dick. The door opened and he looked out from behind the desk, ready to shoot, only to almost drop his guns when he saw who it was. 

“Kid?” 

Dick was in his Nightwing suit, the sniper rifle hanging off his shoulder and the Escrima Sticks in his hands. Seeing him, he quickly fastened the sticks to his back again and rushed over to him. 

“Damn it. They already got you.” 

Slade frowned, letting go of one of the guns and lifting his helmet off. 

“You knew that they had something that could do this to me?” 

Dick nodded. 

“Yeah. And I’ll explain later. I swear. But we need to get you out of here. Billy is on his way. I decided that it would go faster over the rooftops than having to drive around Gotham.” 

He quickly leaned down and put Slade’s arm around his shoulders. Gathering all the energy he had left, Slade stood up, leaning heavily on the boy. To his surprise, Dick supported him without a problem. Seeing his look, Dick rolled his eyes. 

“I’m used to hauling Jay around. And, if you remember, Cyborg was much bigger than me when I was a Titan. I’m used to supporting people bigger and heavier than me.” 

Very slowly, they started making their way through the office building. After a few seconds of silence, Dick started talking. 

“Billy and I discovered something. Bruce let Psimon into my head, immediately after he rescued me from you. It turns out that he had Psimon create false memories of my time with you. Made me believe that you tortured and abused me.” 

Slade almost stumbled. 

“What?” 

“Yeah. Billy is the one who got the idea. Raven confirmed it. She… Uh… She was at your house.” 

The boy sounded nervous, making Slade roll his eye. 

“I’m not mad at you. Wayne on the other hand…” 

Dick nodded, opening the door to the other warehouse. They were halfway through the big building, when they heard voices coming closer. Slade’s eye widened. 

“Get out of here.” 

Dick looked at him with confusion. 

“What?” 

“I can barely walk. I’m just slowing you down. Leave me and get the hell out of here.” 

Blue eyes filled with shock. 

“What? Why? Bruce will…” 

“I know. But I’ve been through worse. Trust me. And, as soon as this drug wears off, I’ll escape. But I need to know you’re out of here and safe. Get to Billy and shut down the house. Then you two get on a plane and get out of Gotham. I have some acquaintances over in France. Go there. Or go to Haly’s. I’m sure you’ll be safe there for some time. I’ll find you, when I get out.” 

Dick shook his head, almost in disbelief. 

“But… I don’t understand. Why is it so important that I’m safe?” 

Slade sighed angrily. 

“Because… Damn it. Because Billy is right. I’m starting to care. I swore to myself, after Rose, Joey and Grant, that I wouldn’t care again. I would find you, train you and make you my apprentice. Make you into a perfect soldier and successor. And it worked the first time. When you were younger and easier to mold. But now something is different. I’ve started to care.” 

Dick was still in shock. 

“Found me? What do you mean by… Oh.” 

Realization appeared on his face. 

“When you were looking for your son. You didn’t give up looking when you ran into me. You stopped looking because I…” 

He seemed to have trouble saying the words. Slade nodded. 

“Yes. Which is why I need you to be safe. Now let go of me and get the hell out of here.” 

Dick looked at him for a few seconds, before nodding. As gently as he could, he helped the man sit down on the ground and opened his mouth to say something. Right in that moment, the voices seemed to get right to the door, and Dick quickly turned around and rushed out through one of the side doors. Slade took a deep breath. Holding two guns up was difficult, so he opted for just one, but more powerful. The doors opened and Batman stepped through. The three boys were following him, Todd and al Ghul seemingly in the middle of an argument. They became quiet when they noticed Slade, the corner of Wayne’s mouth twitching slightly. The man walked closer to him. 

“Now we can talk.” 

Slade raised his eyebrows. 

“Psimon? Really?” 

Bruce’s expression didn’t change. 

“You found out?” 

“Not only me.” 

This time, Bruce almost twitched. He took a threatening step towards Slade, but stopped when a shot rang out. A bullet whizzed through the air and took off the right ear on Batman’s cowl. All four bats looked around, while Slade felt shock. Dick stayed. Richard Grayson had just shot at Bruce Wayne. If he hadn’t been so shocked about that, he would have laughed. Drake moved a bit closer to Bruce. 

“Deadshot?” 

Bruce shook his head. 

“No. Deadshot doesn’t work with Deathstroke.” 

“Then who has an aim like that? And where are they?” 

He was still looking around, trying to figure out where the shooter was. Meanwhile, Slade noticed that Todd was frowning. The young man glanced down to his own gun, his eyes widening suddenly. He looked over to Slade, a questioning expression on his face. Very slowly, Slade nodded, making sure that the others didn’t notice it. Todd smirked slightly, before his expression became emotionless again. 

“B. We should go. This shooter is clearly on Slade’s side.” 

“No. I’m not leaving. Not until he gives Dick back to us.” 

Another shot rang out, taking off the second ear. This time, Bruce had seen where the shot came from, and threw a batarang there. The platform on the other side of the warehouse exploded, Jason looking at it with worry. Seconds after the explosion, a figure jumped out of the flames, made a few flips in the air and landed between Slade and the bats. Dick put his rifle up, pointing it at Bruce. The Bat took half a step back in shock, before collecting himself. 

“Dick. What are you doing?” 

Dick’s hands shook slightly at Bruce’s cold voice, but he steadied them when he heard Slade shift slightly behind him. 

“Let us go.” 

Bruce shook his head. 

“You know I can’t. You’re coming back to the cave with us.” 

He made a move to take a step towards Dick, but stopped when the rifle pointed straight at his chest. 

“I have three more shots. Don’t make me use them.” 

Damian frowned and stepped closer to them, Jason moving after him quickly, making sure that the boy was within his reach. 

“Grayson? What’s going on?” 

Dick’s eyes didn’t leave Bruce, but his voice softened slightly. 

“Don’t worry, Little D. Everything is fine. Just stay with Jay.” 

Bruce sighed heavily. 

“I can’t let you go with him, Dick. You know that.” 

“Oh, I know. I know everything now.” 

Bruce made another move to step closer to Dick, this time being stopped by a flash of lightning. Wally let go of Roy next to Dick, the archer immediately lifting his bow and pointing the arrow at the uncovered part of Bruce’s face. Wally stopped on Dick’s other side, lightning jumping between his hands. 

“Hi Dick! Sorry we’re late.” 

While Dick stared at Wally with shock, Roy’s eyes were filled with anger and hate. 

“I know what you did to my little brother. So go ahead. Give me an excuse.” 

Seeing that the young man was fully ready to kill him, Bruce wisely stayed where he was. 


	14. Reality

Roy was staring at the pictures in shock for a few seconds, before flying to his feet and starting to pace around. 

“How is this even possible?” 

Wally shrugged. 

“I don’t know. But it would explain many things. Slade’s obsession with Dick. Dick’s obsession with guns. The fact that he wants to stay with Slade, even if he isn’t really sure why. It all makes sense.” 

Roy nodded slowly, coming to a stop in the middle of the room. 

“Yeah. It makes sense. And if it makes sense to us, then you know who else it will make sense to as well, don’t you?” 

Wally seemed to pale slightly. 

“Bruce.” 

Roy nodded again. After a few seconds, a look of horror flashed across his face. 

“Oh my…” 

He quickly fastened his quiver on his back, grabbed the bow and turned to Wally again. 

“Do you know where Barbara is?” 

Wally nodded. 

“Yeah. She’s still staying in her old flat.” 

“Good. Take me there.” 

The speedster tilted his head. 

“What’s going on Roy? You’re worrying me.” 

“There’s no time. I just got a terrible thought, and I want to make sure that it’s just that. A thought.” 

Wally gave him another frown, before grabbing him and speeding off. Seconds later, they were standing outside of an apartment, the name Gordon, written on the door. Without a seconds pause, Roy stepped closer to the door and banged on it. 

“Gordon! Open the door!” 

They heard the sound of a wheelchair on the other side, and then the door opened. Barbara glared up at Roy. 

“What do you want, Harper?” 

“I need you to break into the video feeds from Bruce’s cowl and Dick’s Robin mask. I need the videos from the day Dick was saved from Slade.” 

The woman twitched, an odd look appearing on her face. 

“Why do you need them? I thought Dick told you about what happened with Slade.” 

Roy took a deep breath, clearly having to stop himself from raising his voice again. Wally was just looking between them with confusion. He had noticed that Roy and Barbara’s relationship had gotten more and more strained through the years, but he had no idea why that had happened. 

“Listen. I think Dick didn’t tell us everything. And, if that’s the case, I need to find out the truth. His life may depend on it. I know you don’t care about Dick anymore…” 

“Don’t care about him?! He’s the one who left me!” 

This time, Roy’s voice rose in anger. 

“He fell in love! You two were just friends. Sure, close as hell, but just friends. He had the right to fall in love. He had the right to be happy. But when he told you about it, expecting you to be happy for him, you just shouted at him and acted like he had cheated on you.” 

Then he shook his head. 

“You know what? This was a bad idea. Wally. Get us to Cy. He should be able to help us out.” 

Wally, although shocked, grabbed him. But then stopped when they heard Barbara speak up again. 

“Wait.” 

Her eyes met Roy’s, almost as if she was searching for something. Then she nodded slowly. 

“I… Come in. I’ll see what I can do.” 

And she wheeled further into the apartment. Roy hesitated, before following her. Wally just shook his head and went after them. Barbara led them to the kitchen and opened a computer she had there. She started typing quickly, numbers and images just flashing across the screen. Almost five minutes later, she stopped and turned the computer slightly so that they could see the screen better. 

“Here. This is from shortly before they drove into Gotham. Although I have no idea why you would want to watch it.” 

Roy and Wally both stepped closer to the screen just as the video started. It was the shot registered by Bruce’s camera in the cowl. 

_ Bruce was keeping his eyes on the street, ignoring the twitching boy next to him. Dick’s voice came from the passenger seat.  _

_ “Bruce? Where are we going?”  _

_ “Don’t question me.”  _

_ The boy shifted again.  _

_ “Bruce. You’re starting to scare me.” _

_ Bruce sighed.  _

_ “Don’t worry. I just want to talk to you somewhere other than the cave or mansion. I don’t want Alfred to hear about all this.”  _

_ “Oh. Alright.”  _

_ Bruce turned to the side and glanced at Dick. The boy was curled up in the passenger seat, keeping his eyes on the window. He looked back to the road and took a left into the parking lot in front of a big, abandoned warehouse.  _

_ “Let’s go.”  _

_ He stepped out of the Batmobile, Dick quickly jumping out and following him into the warehouse. They walked inside together, Bruce pointing at a chair that was standing against one of the walls.  _

_ “Sit down. And start talking.”  _

_ Dick walked over to the chair and sat down.  _

_ “We were hunting Sla…”  _

_ He stopped when he saw something to the right of the bat. Bruce looked there too, and nodded at Psimon who was coming towards them.  _

_ “Batman.”  _

_ “Psimon.”  _

_ They both turned to Dick when the boy spoke up.  _

_ “B? What’s going on?”  _

_ Bruce just waved his hand towards him.  _

_ “Go on. I gave you all the information.”  _

_ Psimon’s voice could be heard from the side.  _

_ “Of course. But I need to know if you’re really sure about this. Slade Wilson is not someone you should mess with.”  _

_ Bruce turned to him, most probably glaring, and the man shrugged.  _

_ “As you wish.”  _

_ Then he turned to the boy, who had by now stood up from the chair and had his hands in fists. Psimon smirked and made sure that he had eye contact with him. Seconds later, Dick fell to the ground, screaming. Tears started to fall, as he was shaking on the ground. Bruce kept his eyes on him, his head slightly tilted. After a few minutes, the boy finally passed out, his body still twitching on the ground. Psimon looked away from him and turned to Bruce again.  _

_ “It’s all done. He will not remember what really happened.”  _

_ “Why did he scream?”  _

_ Psimon shook his head with a smirk.  _

_ “I had to put memories of torture into his brain. As well as repress the real memories of his time with Wilson. It was bound to be painful.”  _

_ Bruce nodded.  _

_ “Get out of here.”  _

_ Psimon looked at him for a few seconds, before turning around and walking away. Just seconds later, Dick woke up and grunted in pain.  _

_ “What? What happened? Bruce?”  _

_ The man crouched down next to him and helped him sit up.  _

_ “You passed out when you were telling me about what Slade did to you.”  _

_ Dick shivered all over, leaning into the hand that Bruce had on his shoulder.  _

_ “Come on. Let’s go to the mansion. He won’t come close to you again.”  _

Barbara stopped the video and turned to the two young men. Wally was terrified, while Roy looked ready to kill someone. 

“Roy, I had no idea.” 

He nodded tensely. 

“I know.” 

He leaned heavily against the table, his eyes closed. Wally took a deep breath. 

“Why did Bruce do that? I mean, sure, he’s always been hard on Dick, but not like this.” 

Roy’s eyes opened and he turned to Wally. When he spoke, it was clear that he was trying his best to keep his voice calm. 

“That’s because we never told you the truth.” 

Wally frowned. 

“What?” 

“You had a good life with Barry. You were always so carefree and happy. We didn’t want to destroy that in you. In some way, we wanted to protect you.” 

“Protect me from what?”

Roy shook his head. 

“Reality, I guess.” 

Barbara, who had kept quiet up till now, suddenly raised her voice. 

“Wait a second. What are you talking about?” 

“Bruce abused Dick. Still does, from time to time, but Dick has gotten much better at avoiding him. First it was about the guns. Then he kept pushing him too hard. Setting impossible goals, and then punishing him when he couldn’t reach them.” 

He looked at Wally. 

“Do you remember that one time the three of us snuck out, got in a fight with Penguin’s goons and you got your arm and ribs broken? When the League had to come save us and took us back to the Hall of Justice?” 

Wally nodded. 

“Well, after Barry took you home to fix you up, me and Oliver left too. But, before we even got across the hall, we heard Bruce screaming at Dick. And not just the expected screams about how irresponsible we had been. No. He went on and on about how Dick is a failure, how he’ll never be a good leader, how he is a disgrace to both Bruce and the Flying Graysons. How Bruce sometimes regretted taking him in. When Ollie heard that, he got furious. I don’t think I’ve ever seen him that mad. He marched back into the room and I thought he would kill Bruce. But he stopped himself, grabbed Dick and pulled him out of there. I think Bruce was too shocked by that to react in time. Ollie took us through the Zeta tube to Star City and tried to question Dick. But he didn’t get any answers. Dick just said that it’s alright. That it’s nothing to worry about. That it’s normal. Three days later, Bruce showed up, as Bruce Wayne. Since Dick was still underage, Ollie had no right to keep him in Star City, unless Dick agreed to file a police report. Which Dick didn’t. After that, he would sometimes come to Star City. Especially after really bad arguments. The first three times, I didn’t question it. But after that I couldn’t just let it happen. I sat him down and forced him to talk. He told me everything. We agreed to not tell you. To not destroy your view of the world. Dick would come to me, once or twice a month, to tell me what happened. I tried to convince him to come stay with me, but he didn’t want to. First he wanted to make sure Jason was safe. He stayed in Bludhaven while Tim was Robin, because he didn’t see any danger to him. But he started coming back to Gotham again when Damian appeared. He said he needed to protect him.” 

Then he turned away from a shocked Wally and addressed Barbara. 

“Can you figure out where Wayne is?” 

Quickly, she pulled the computer into her lap and started to type away. After two minutes, she frowned. Roy moved closer to her. 

“What?” 

“Slade sent out a message to Bruce. He wants to meet him.” 

“When is the meeting?” 

She looked up at him. 

“Almost ten minutes ago. Penguin’s old warehouse.” 

Roy quickly turned to Wally. The speedster nodded, grabbed him, and sped away. Just seconds later, they came to a stop next to Dick. Wally glanced over to him. 

“Hi, Dick! Sorry we’re late.” 

Roy was keeping his arrow pointed straight at Bruce’s face. 

“I know what you did to my little brother. So go ahead. Give me an excuse.” 


	15. Let Us Go

Dick steadied his grip on the gun. Bruce was staring at him and he knew that the man was disappointed. And, had this been any other situation, he would have most probably backed off. Put the gun down and waited for the argument. But he couldn’t. Slade was almost completely powerless. And he couldn’t count Wally and Roy as fighters. Not against Bruce. Not against the man who had contingency plans for everyone. He had to keep Bruce’s attention on him. Had to make sure the others were safe. And then Roy’s words hit him. They knew. How much did they know about? Not taking his eyes off of Bruce, he tilted his head towards the archer. 

“Roy? You know?” 

Roy nodded. 

“Yeah. Barbara hacked your masks and showed us the footage from the day when Bruce brought you back to Gotham. We saw what he did.” 

Jason frowned. 

“Wait. What the hell are you talking about?” 

Roy snorted. 

“Why don’t you ask him?” 

He nodded towards Bruce. The Bat was still glaring at them. Jason looked between Dick and Bruce, before turning to Roy again. 

“What the hell is going on?” 

Wally, most probably wanting to dispel some of the tension, quickly started to explain. 

“Bruce let Psimon mess with Dick’s head and change his memories about Deathstroke.” 

Damian and Tim looked shocked, while sudden understanding appeared in Jason’s eyes. He grabbed Damian’s shoulder and pulled the boy a bit closer to himself. Dick threw him a thankful look, before taking a step back to put himself a bit closer to Slade. 

“Bruce. Let us go.” 

The Bat shook his head. 

“I should have expected this. Like father, like son.” 

This time, even Jason looked shocked. Dick hesitated, before nodding. 

“Yeah. I am his son. So what? You’re going to put me in prison because of that?” 

Bruce snorted. 

“That’s what I’m trying to avoid. That’s what I’ve been trying to avoid all this time. Your mother had told Haly who your real father was. Haly, in turn, told me. And I knew that I had to take you in before he got to you. Had to make sure we didn’t have another Deathstroke on our hands. That’s why I allowed you to become Robin. To make sure you didn’t end up like Wilson. But you couldn’t even do that right. Just look at yourself. You’re a disappointment, Dick.” 

Dick’s hands shook and he took half a step back. Right then, a door opened in the back of the warehouse and Wintergreen stepped inside. He was holding a gun, but wasn’t pointing it at anyone. Dick, still keeping his eyes on Bruce, addressed the old man. 

“Get Slade out of here.” 

Billy hurried over to them, but stopped when Bruce whipped out a batarang. Seeing that, Roy quickly released the arrow, hitting Bruce in the leg. The Bat swayed slightly, but stayed upright. Meanwhile, Jason was just looking between everyone, his hand still on Damian’s shoulder. After a few seconds of tense silence, he spoke up in a calm voice. 

“Tim.” 

Tim turned to him. 

“Get Stephanie and go to Selina’s. Stay there until I tell you otherwise. Me and Damian will pick up Cass and go somewhere safe.” 

And, still holding Damian, he started to back away from the fight. As soon as Bruce’s angry glare turned to him, he whipped out a gun. 

“Don’t even think about it.” 

The Bat stopped, clearly unsure about if he could take on all of them while wounded. Using his hesitation to their advantage, the three boys left, Tim still looking a mix between shocked, terrified and confused. They were gone seconds later and Bruce turned to Dick again. Billy had already hurried over to them and was helping Slade stand up. The mercenary was swaying violently, clearly not having enough strength to keep himself upright. Seeing that, Wally hesitated for only a split second, before grabbing Slade’s other arm and putting it around his shoulders. 

“Dick. Let’s go.” 

Him and Billy turned around and started leading Slade out of there. Roy and Dick started to back away slowly, still pointing their weapons at Bruce. The Bat stayed where he was, staring angrily after them. They got out through the door without any problems and Roy nodded towards the car that Billy and Slade were in. 

“I’m gonna guess that you want to go with them.” 

Dick nodded slowly, a hesitant look appearing on his face. Roy smiled. 

“It’s fine. As long as that’s what you want, I won’t interfere. You know where to find me if anything happens.” 

“Bruce…” 

Roy quickly cut him off. 

“Won’t be a problem. I’ll talk to Ollie if I have to. We’ll deal with this, you just stay safe and keep in touch.” 

At that moment, Billy opened the window of the car and looked out. 

“Dick. We have to go.” 

Dick threw a thankful smile towards Roy and Wally and quickly got into the car. Billy nodded to the two young men outside, before quickly driving off. Roy looked at Wally and sighed. 

“Let’s go.” 

Wally frowned, but still sped over to him and grabbed him around the waist. 

“Where?” 

“Dick’s flat in Haven. If he decides to get away from Slade, that’s where he’ll go.” 

With a nod, Wally sped them away. 

******

Jason stopped outside his flat and waited until Damian got off the bike, before stretching a key over to him. 

“Here. Second floor, door on the right. I’ll go get Cass.” 

The boy grabbed the key and frowned. Seeing that, Jason sighed and turned off the bike. 

“What is it?” 

Damian glared at the ground, clearly not knowing how to say what he was thinking. Jason almost cursed. He had no idea what to do. Dick was the one who knew how to handle Damian. 

“Damian. What’s wrong?” 

Green eyes looked up at him. 

“Is Grayson really Deathstroke’s son?” 

Jason hesitated. He himself understood. He didn’t hold it against Dick in any way. The fact that he was Wilson’s son didn’t change anything. But Damian worshipped Dick. He saw him as a hero. Someone whose footsteps he could follow in. Dick was Damian’s Batman. Not Bruce. Very slowly, he got off the bike and crouched down to put himself at the boy’s level. 

“Listen to me, Damian. Yes. Dick is Slade’s son. But that doesn’t mean that he isn’t your brother. He will always be there for you. Whatever happens.” 

Damian tilted his head. 

“How do you know?” 

“Because he was there for me.” 

And, seeing Damian’s confused expression, he elaborated. 

“When I came back, I was messed up. I killed left and right. I didn’t listen to anyone. I hated anything that had to do with heroes. I was mad at everyone and everything. And through it all, Dick was always there. He always reached out. It didn’t matter that I almost shot him a couple of times just because I didn’t want his kindness. He was always there. Just as he will always be there for you. Whatever happens. Dick Grayson will never stop being your brother.” 

A small smile started to appear on Damian’s face, before he seemingly caught himself and shook his head. 

“This display of emotions is sickening, Todd.” 

But, for once, his words lacked the bite he always had towards the older boy. Jason grinned and stood up.

“Alright, Brat. I’m going to get Cass. You stay in the flat. Anyone tries to break in, you have my permission to severely wound him or her. Don’t kill. I want to know how they found my place before we do that. Don’t let anyone in until I get there. If Bruce comes…” 

He stopped, a troubled look crossing his face. Damian looked at him with consideration, before nodding. 

“If father does come, I’ll call West and tell him to come and get me out of there.” 

Jason grinned again. 

“Not bad. Now go.” 

He waited on the street until the light in his flat was turned on, before sitting on the bike again and taking off towards Barbara’s flat, where he knew Cass was staying the night. If his suspicions were correct, Cass and Damian were the ones he would have to protect from Bruce right now. Steph and Tim would be alright with Selina. Especially if the woman got Alfred involved. With a sigh, he sped up. Having to worry about everyone like that wasn’t easy. Suddenly, he felt a new respect for Dick, who always managed to be concerned about everyone and still not go mad with it. 

“Oh well. I guess I’ll have to be the oldest in the family for some time.” 

And, with those words, he sped up even more. The faster he got to Cass, the faster they would get back to Damian. 


End file.
